Magic
by Lady Helsing
Summary: Complete. Time passes and soon the boys are granted new armors, along with them comes the slaps of reality, choices to make, and new responsibilities. Takes place before, during, and after Message.
1. One September Day

**Magic**

Chapter One: One September Day

Cye put the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher and started it up; he let out a long sigh and looked out the small kitchen window. Tomorrow would mark the start of a new school term for his four friends in their last year too. He graduated last year, due to his birthday; Cye had always been one year ahead in school. There was still college though.

College was something he was definitely looking into since it was his main reason for moving to Tokyo. Both of his parents went to college and Sayoko said she had no desire to. The only reason Cye hadn't jumped into college right after graduating was because he felt he had to save up a little more money, falling into debt for school was not really something he wanted to do.

As for his four close friends? Well Cye only knew what Kento had planned for his career, taking over the family business. The two best friends had agreed to enroll in the same college together so they could both study business. While studying all the things to go with running one's own small business Cye also wanted to further his first passion, cooking.

A good song from the small radio brought Cye out of his current thoughts and back to cleaning the kitchen. Leaning over and turning the music up a little he also caught the sounds of crashing and thudding from Kento's room.

Other thoughts did occupy his time these days as well, thoughts that any single man would think about. Since they no longer had to put on mystical armor, the real world had beckoned Cye into its arms.

At the start of the summer he had managed to open his own pottery shop a few blocks away from his apartment, business had been booming. Even though it was only him working in the shop he was able to get occasional help from Ryo or Kento, rarely would Rowen or Sage be able to help. Last month Cye had sent a few pictures of the shop to his mother who loved them and told Cye she's was so proud of him.

Glancing over at the kitchen counter, Cye spied the letter his grandmother had sent him earlier that month. In it was evidence of yet another step into normality and manhood, her concern about his life. The biggest of which was if he had a girlfriend, which he did not. That was an area of life that Cye was just not quite ready to venture into yet, maybe in a year or two he'd feel differently.

He had others things to worry about first.

Kento looked at the back of Cye's head, "You alright?"

Snapping around, Cye looked at his roommate. "Yeah I was just thinking."

"Don't think too hard." The young Chinese man said, "It hurts believe me."

Cye chuckled.

Kento smiled and sat on the sofa, a small grunt following.

"Was it your bed again?" Cye asked.

"Yeah," Kento sighed and rubbed his shoulder, "You'd think after four days of tossing and punching my mattress that it'd be good enough to let me sleep."

"I'll make you some oolong tea." Cye offered.

"Mm oolong tea."

Cye smiled and took a bamboo printed teapot off the tiny shelf just above the stove. Turning the water on and filling the pot just enough for two cups, then he set it on the stove and put the dial on medium. He opened the cupboard and took out two teacups for him and Kento.

Kento, who had been watching the whole time smiled. "You know I have to agree with Rowen about you."

Blinking Cye turned and looked at his friend, "What?"

"You _will_ make someone a fine wife someday!" He grinned.

Cye looked thoughtful, "But then who will be my husband?" He asked in a high voice.

Now it was Kento's turn to laugh. "So what time are we meeting Sage, Rowen, and Ryo?"

"Um..." Cye turned around to look at the food themed calendar on the fridge. "Around one thirty; so we've got three hours to get ready."

Kento nodded, "It's weird to think this is our last year of high school."

"I know. To think that you're almost adults is weird in and of itself. Now you're in your last year of high school with college options popping their heads out of the water." The oven beeped and Cye opened it, taking out the batch of cookies he had been making. "I wonder what the rest of the year will be like?"

"Probably the usual, Sage getting followed by his group of giggling followers, Rowen staying at the top of the class, Ryo making soccer captain, and I'll be there to haul ass in gym. Oh and you'll be visiting us at lunch."

"If I can make it to eat lunch with you guys," Cye remarked.

Kento's eyes then fell on the tray Cye was holding. "WOOT! Cookies are done!" He stood up and ran into the kitchen.

However, Cye would have none of that. He spun past Kento and leapt onto the soft chair by the sofa. "Now look here Kento Rei Faun! I spent all morning making these for all five of us to snack on later. You are _not_ going to gobble them down until later!"

Kento backed up by the fridge. "Cye you can get really scary, you know that?"

WHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

"WHA!" Kento jumped over the counter and into the dining room when the teapot started whistling.

Cye almost spilled the cookies he was laughing so hard. "A little jumping today?" He got off the chair and set the cookies on the countertop by the stove. Put on his lobster claw of an oven mitt and pulled the teapot off the stove.

"Gahh!" Kento stood up and tried to catch his breath. "Teapots are out to get me! Ever since I was a kid that whistle they make scares me."

"Any idea why?" Cye asked while pouring the tea.

Kento thought for a minute. "Not that I can remember." He said slowly. "I know something happened but I don't remember what."

"You must have been too young." Cye handed Kento a cup of oolong tea.

"Maybe," Kento took his cup, "Thanks man." He smiled.

"You're welcome." Cye took a sip of his tea. "So what shall I make for dinner tonight?"

Kento pointed at his friend. "You've cooked meals the last five days. I'm cooking tonight."

"Thanks Kento." Cye loved to cook but even he got tired of it from time to time.

* * *

A few hours later, both boys were casually walking down one of the many overly crowded streets of Tokyo. It was cold that day, almost close to winter cold. But with everyone walking so close together no one was cold for very long.

Kento looked around at the buildings. "So where are we meeting them again?"

"We're meeting up by Hachiko in the Shibuya District, then we are going to that Teishoku-ya." Cye said.

"Oh that place is sooo gooood!" Kento grinned.

Cye chuckled.

"I wonder how many people will be around Hachiko today?"

"Somewhere around too-many-to-count," Cye said. "I just hope we can find them easily."

"Just look for the squealing girls." Kento joked.

"Sage may be hiding from his fan club."

Kento chuckled. "Yeah I feel bad for him sometimes."

"Me too, I think the only girls that Sage is even a little comfortable around are Mia and Kayura."

"Probably because they don't worship the very ground he walks on." They both laughed. "Speaking of Kayura I wonder how she and the Warlords are doing?"

"Last time I heard anything they were doing alright. I'm not sure where they are or what they're doing." Cye shrugged. "Ryo might know, we can ask him."

"Good idea." Kento agreed.

"Yo! Cye! Kento!"

The two in question turned and smiled.

_Speak of the devil._ "Hey Ryo!" Kento grinned as their friend and leader jogged over to them. "You look frazzled."

"I blame my aunt." He said and sighed. "I'm grateful and all that she's letting me live with her but that woman fusses over everything. I swear she'll train White Blaze to vacuum before Christmas."

Cye laughed. "High strung is she?"

"No just very active."

"Hey active isn't bad."

"Anyways" Kento started, "Ryo, Cye and I wondered if you've heard from Kayura and the other Warlords?"

Ryo nodded, "I have, they're all doing well. Mia's letting Kayura stay in her house, so she took over the basement. I helped her get a sofa down there the other day." He chuckled. "I forgot how strong she can be."

"That's good that you're helping your lil' sister." The Chinese man smiled. "So where are Cale, Dais, and Sekhmet?"

"They are all in the Nether Realm."

"And here I thought They'd want to return to life in this world." Kento shrugged.

"I'm not sure they'd adjust that well Kento, things have changed since they lived here." Cye pointed out.

Ryo shrugged, "Oh and once we sit down to eat I've got a message from Mia for everyone."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Kento, he just said he had to wait for everyone." Cye sighed.

"Yeah but usually Mia calls us if she's got to say something." Kento looked at Ryo. "Is she okay?"

"Mia's fine. She's just too busy right now so she asked if I'd tell everyone, so I said okay." Ryo smiled. "It's nothing bad so don't worry."

Kento sighed muttering something about letting Kayura tell them instead.

Cye just laughed lightly while they rounded the corner and entered Shibuya. As usual the place was busier than a beehive. People their age and younger, ran in and out of the shops that lined the sidewalks. One could find almost anything in the form of fashion or electronics here, it was nuts!

"God this place is always so busy!" Ryo said uncomfortably.

"It's a wonder people don't get trampled to death here." Cye agreed.

Kento nodded. "Well let's get over to Hachiko and see if we can find the fan club."

"Yeah we've got a long walk."

They walked past shop after shop of different items. Clothes, food, electronics, luck charms, the list just went on and on. It was amazing how many shops where in this area of the city. The big question though would have to be were there more people than stores? Yes several times over.

* * *

"I still can't believe you're wearing a hat." Rowen said looking at Sage.

Sage looked at Rowen, "We are in a heavily crowded area."

"You'll have to take it off when we get food."

"…"

"Hey, look at it this way, if we get a waitress that thinks you're cute, we may get a discount."

"Rowen!" Sage glared.

Rowen laughed.

Sage sighed.

"If you hate it so much why do you put up with it as well as you do?"

"I have no idea." Sage shrugged. "I guess it's better than being feared because of the way I look."

Rowen decided it was time to change the subject. "I heard you on the phone with Satsuki this morning, she over her cold?"

"Almost, she says that she feels a lot better. I can still hear it in her voice though so I told her to take it easy until school starts back up."

"I hope she listens."

"She will." He let out a sigh, "Satsuki usually does listen when I say things to her."

Rowen looked at him, "She looks up to you."

Sage took his turn to change the subject, "So how's your dad?"

Rowen shrugged, "Fine I think. I haven't heard from him since I let him know where we had moved to."

"Is that a good thing?" Sage asked.

"Yeah, if I hear from him too much it means he doesn't have a lot of work to do and he's bored." Rowen leaned against the tree and closed his eyes.

"You know Rowen," Sage crossed his arms, "you have a very strange relationship with your parents."

Rowen opened his eyes, "You just now realized this?"

Sage smiled. "Oh I think I see Kento's big mouth."

"Hm?" Rowen followed Sage's gaze.

"There they are." Cye said, spotting Rowen's blue hair.

"Yo!" Kento waved to their friends.

Ryo smiled as they approached the statue of Hachiko where their friend waited. "You guys been here long?"

"About fifteen minutes." Sage said.

"Whoa." Kento blinked. "Sage is wearing a hat."

"Don't you _dare_ take it off either!" Sage warned.

Kento moved away from Sage. "So how are you guys?" He asked Rowen.

"Fine," He answered.

"That's good to hear." Cye said.

Sage looked at Cye and Ryo. "And are you guys doing well?"

"Can't complain," Cye said.

Ryo shrugged, "Eh I'm good."

"Let's get some lunch, I'm starving." Kento said.

"Me too," Rowen smiled.

"Let's feed the two bottomless pits." Cye said playfully.

Kento grinned, "Cye made a bunch of cookies for later."

Rowen's face brightened at the very mention of sugar.

_Oh great…_ Sage thought.

Ryo smiled and walked beside Sage as they made their way to the Teishoku-ya restaurant that had become yet another one of their hangouts. Rowen and Kento were talking about which tempura was better, which left Cye feeling rather ill when Rowen said shrimp tempura. Ryo and Sage talked about the events that had taken place so far that year. Both agreed the only big change was being at school without Cye.

Cye's age complicated visits at school; still it wasn't like they never saw him. The school allowed friends to visit at lunch, so they always ate on the roof. It was easier that way to get away from the other students.

The boys entered the Teishoku-ya and were greeted by a young waiter named Haru. "Wow I haven't seen you five for a while." He smiled.

"Hi Haru," Kento grinned, "Can we get our usual spot in the back?"

"Of course!" Haru lead the way to the back of the restaurant. "I'm even assigned to that area today. So if you're all getting the usual orders I can get them started for you."

Ryo smiled, "That is great Haru."

Haru led them to a table and waited until all five of his customers sat down. "The usual drinks too?"

"Please." Cye nodded.

Haru nodded and slipped through the door that led to the kitchen.

"Man why can't a cool guy like Haru work at my family's place?" Kento asked.

Rowen chuckled, "Probably because he'd be the one with more tips than you."

"Hey!"

Sage chuckled. "So Cye, how's work going?"

"It's been busy the last few days." Cye answered. "A tour group from France came through the other day and I almost sold everything in the shop to them. Pottery must be popular in France."

Kento pouted, "Cye won't be joining us tomorrow for lunch. He's got that monthly check up with the land lady again."

"She's just going in to check you out." Ryo said.

Cye turned slightly green, "Ryo, don't even joke about that."

Everyone laughed and Haru brought the drinks out. Kento took a sip of his coke-a-cola then remembered something. "Hey Ryo?"

The leader looked over at him, "Hm?"

"Didn't you say Mia wanted you to tell us all something?"

Cye blinked now also remembering that.

"That's odd." Rowen said, "Mia hardly ever has us tell each other things."

Ryo cleared his throat, obviously not too comfortable that he had to do this. "Well it's a bit shocking but I'll just say it..." he paused looking at Sage, "Um you'll wanna put that down."

Sage raised his visible eyebrow and set his Diet Coke back on the table. What on earth would Ryo have to relay to them that way so shocking that Sage might lose his drink?

Now that he had everyone's attention Ryo said it. "Mia is engaged."

Suddenly Sage was very glad he did put the drink down.

Kento's eyes were about to fall out of his head, "She's what…?"

"Are you kidding?" Cye was happy for Mia but this was still quite the shock.

Rowen asked, "Is Jack her fiancé?" He seemed to be the only one unfazed by the news.

Sage just listened. He wasn't sure what to say.

"Yeah it's Jack." Ryo said. "Mia asked me to tell you guys because she won't be back until the 8th of October. She and Jack are off looking at wedding locations."

"Wow… just wow." Kento rubbed the side of his head to calm himself down. "I guess we shouldn't be too surprised. I mean Jack's been dating her for two years, it must have only been a matter of time before he popped the question."

"At least Jack is aware of the fact that if he hurts Mia in any way," Sage sipped his Diet Coke, "That they'll be nothing left of him to find."

Everyone nodded. No one hurt their Mia without suffering for it.

"So did they set a date for the wedding?" Cye asked.

Ryo thought for a moment, "I think Mia said they were talking about doing it a few weeks after we graduate."

Rowen nodded, "Mia would do a thing like that too."

Scuffing Kento said, "You're the only one who could even miss class anyways."

"It's not my fault you never study for a test." Rowen said.

"Don't start you two." Cye warned.

Sage and Ryo nodded agreeing with Cye.

"Fine," Both boys said.

Haru appeared with another waiter the boys hadn't seen yet. "I hope you're hungry, the chef made a little extra." Haru and the other boy then set the food down in all the right places.

It was all Kento could do to keep from drooling. "Haru you're the best!"

"I do my best." Haru said with a grin. "Enjoy." He led the other waiter to another table.

"Training the new guy," Sage summed up.

Rowen picked up his chopsticks, "Must be."

Cye smiled, "So did you two decide if you are getting a pet or not?" he asked looking at Sage and Rowen.

Sage nodded, "We looked over the rules of the apartment and we can get a pet as long as it's small. So we decided to get a cat."

"We thought about going to the animal shelter later tonight." Rowen said. "And the down payment for damages has been paid."

Kento studied his blue haired friend. "Rowen I never pictured you as a cat lover."

Rowen looked over, "I like cats. I would like a dog too but we aren't really zoned for one." He glanced at Sage then said, "Besides Sage hates dogs."

The blonde twitched slightly, "I really do."

Kento chuckled.

"On the subject of animals, how is White Blaze?" Sage asked looking at Ryo.

"He's okay." Ryo said. He took a few bites of food then said, "White Blaze is just annoyed that he has to stay in the house or the backyard. I don't blame him for that Aunt Kimiko's back yard is tiny! I can't even play soccer back there."

"Aww, poor Ryo." Cye joked.

Ryo lowered his head, "I'm suffering!" He joked.

The other four laughed, they knew he was hardly suffering.

"How's your sister, Cye?" Rowen asked.

He smiled. "Very well, I spoke to her yesterday and she sounded tired. But that's not too surprising."

"Aren't they planning to start a family soon?" Ryo remembered Cye mentioning that.

Kento chuckled. "I can't wait to see those kids running up and squealing 'Uncle Cye'."

"Yeah, But you'll have a long wait to be called uncle, huh Kento?"

Cye and Kento laughed. "Not really." The Chinese man said. "They're kids in the clan that call me uncle all the time."

"This is funny, since he's really a cousin."

"What the hell goes on in your family?" Rowen asked sarcastically.

"Stuff that would make you paler than Sage," Kento shot back.

"Is that even possible?" Ryo asked.

"I don't know; you got really pale with that summer cold." Sage eyed Ryo. "Which is amazing since you're skin gets so tan."

Ryo caved in. "Okay you have me there."

"Ahh damn that was good!" Kento grinned.

"I thought you were going to eat the plate too."

Kento eyed Cye. "I was just going to tell you the same."

"Nah, Ceramic isn't very high in fiber or protein."

"It's very bland too." Ryo said.

"That's not true." Cye leaned over to look at Ryo, "Sometimes it tastes like sand."

Sage shook his head, "I don't even want to know how you found that out."

"You really don't." Cye assured him.

Kento chuckled. "So we'll catch you guys tomorrow?" He asked looking at Rowen and Sage.

"Late as usual," Sage said.

Rowen sighed heavily, oh how he hated early mornings!

Ryo chuckled, "I'll be sure to distract the teacher."

"Please do. If Rowen makes me late again-"

"Now hold on! You don't always have to wait for me you know."

"Sage needs a body guard." Cye smirked.

Sage said nothing.

"Gee thanks Cye." Rowen said. It was no secret that the girls in school didn't talk to Rowen because of how high his IQ was.

"Poor Rowen!" Kento patted the smart one's shoulder. "Maybe you'll have better luck in college?"

Rowen hung his head and sighed.

Haru walked over. "I have the bills." He handed each of the five boys their bills. "Don't forget to tip me."

He couldn't help it, "Tip you or trip you?"

"Trip me Kento and see what I do to you in your place." Haru smirked.

"I've too much class to trip you, Haru."

Sage bit his tongue.

Rowen did his best not to crack a smile, "No comment."

"HEY!"

"We better get to the store before it closes." Cye quickly stopped the fight that was about to break out. He handed his bill back to Haru, who finished gathering the other four.

"See you tomorrow." They all said.

Rowen and Sage walked away from their three friends. Sage took out a small business card and read it.

Looking over Rowen asked. "You sure we should go look tonight?"

"Yeah," Sage nodded, "We can get our pet tonight then let it settle down in the apartment tomorrow while we are at school."

"True. So are we far from the animal shelter?"

"No jut a couple blocks-ah shoot." Sage stopped.

Blinking his blue-haired friend asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's over by the couple hotels…"

Rowen felt sick.

"I'm not braving that." Sage stated.

"Neither of us are, let's just head back to the apartment. There is a shelter near there I think." Rowen said.

Sage nodded.


	2. Start of the new term

**Magic**

Chapter Two: Start of the New Term

* * *

Kento woke up to the very annoying sound of his alarm clock. Damn thing he cursed sitting up and turning it off, letting a yawn escape. _What's that noise?_ He asked and looked at the window. "Oh great a rainy day."

"Better take your jacket and a pair of boots." Cye said from the doorway. "The news said it'd be like this all day."

"Welcome to the next term I guess."

Cye chuckled, "I have breakfast ready. You'll be late if you keep sitting there."

"Okay, okay." Kento got up and let another yawn escape.

"Didn't you sleep well?"

"Not really but it's all good." Both boys walked out to the living room were Cye had breakfast waiting on their table. "Mmm food."

"Your lunch is also ready. I should be home by the time you get back."

Kento nodded and sat down. "But if you're not I'm going to start the wash." He said. "The guys won't mind."

Cye smiled then starts laughing to himself.

"What is it?"

"I don't think I'm the only one who'd be a good 'wife' as you and Rowen put it."

"I'll try not to see that as an insult."

"You shouldn't." Cye informed him.

"Then I won't." Kento started eating his breakfast. "I think today is when we go to the aquarium."

"On the first day of term?"

Kento nodded, "Well last time we were going to go Mr. Yoshi got too fed up with the behavior from class E 4 so he canceled it."

Cye chuckled, "Yeah that sounds like something Mr. Yoshi would do. So why did he move it to today?"

"He said anyone that showed up for it today wouldn't have to write a ten page paper on the fish there."

"I think everyone will show up."

"Man they better or I'm going to get pissed."

* * *

"GET UP!" Sage pulled the mattress out from under Rowen and watched his friend hit the ground with a loud thud.

Rowen muffed what sounded like a screw you before lifting his head up. Damn his low blood pressure!

"Come on Rowen. I know it's hard for you, but it's raining outside and we also have to get Ryo before heading out."

"I'm up, I'm up." And true to that the Ronin of the Sky sat up and let out a yawn.

Sage chuckled, "You look like a disoriented bird in a nest."

"…Tweet."

Another chuckle came from Sage before he left the room so his friend could get dressed. The smile on his face quickly vanished at the sight of the pouring rain outside. He hated days like this. It wasn't just that the sun didn't shine but something always had to happen to him on rainy days.

Since he was a kid a rainy day always meant something was going to happen to him. Be it his sisters acting like shadows or students in the dojo. It always had to be something. The last time it started raining like this was the day Satsuki got her arm broken.

Rowen walked out of his room and almost fell when the cat ran out from the bathroom. "Don't let me get in your way there, Ray."

The cat, Ray, was hiding in the corner of the kitchen now. Her white fur sticking up and her yellow eyes wide.

"You scared her." Sage said.

"She scared me." The blue haired young man walked into the kitchen. Making sure not to bother the cat, Rowen poured himself some cereal. "You eat already?" He asked looking at Sage.

The blonde nodded. "Put that in the dish washer when you're done. We can start it up before we leave."

"I'll never get over the fact that we were able to get an apartment with a dish washer." Rowen stated before eating his cereal.

* * *

"Ryo, who taught you how to tie a tie?" Hi aunt asked him.

Ryo replied sheepishly, "No one."

"That brother-in-law of mine should have at least taught you that. Come here I'll fix it."

Ryo walked over to his aunt who started fixing the white tie his school made all the boys wear. "Thanks Aunt Kim."

"No problem, your grandfather gave me a lot of experience." She smiled. "There we go." Taking a step back to look at her nephew Kimiko smiled. "I think you should wear a tie more often. It makes you look more, oh what's the word? Distinguished."

Ryo smiled and picked up his umbrella. "I'll be late getting home."

"Oh?" Kimiko brushed her raven colored hair from her shoulder. "Spending a night out with the guys?"

"That and we have a field trip today after lunch for biology class." Ryo said.

"Well try not to be out too late," Kimiko said and put a pin on her vest. "I love White Blaze and all but he gets really antsy when it's dark and you aren't here."

Ryo looked over by the sofa at the animal in question. White Blaze was looking at Kimiko like she should expect him to behave like that. "I'll try Kimiko. But if you want I'll tell you a secret to get White Blaze to stop."

"Please do." Kimiko looked at him.

"Just put down a bowel of milk and tuna. That calms him down."

Kimiko smiled and looked at the tiger. "You really are a big kitty aren't you?"

White Blaze tilted his head.

A knock came at the door.

"I'll get it!" Kimiko sang. She walked across the living room, opened the door and smiled. "Good morning Rowen, good morning Sage."

"Morning Kimiko," Rowen said. "Is he ready?"

"I just need to feed White Blaze." Ryo called from the kitchen.

"So is it as bad as it looks out there?" Kimiko peered over Sage's shoulder at the nasty weather.

"Worse." Sage answered.

Kimiko sighed, "Then it will be slow at work today." She hung her head.

"Okay guys I'm ready." Ryo walked over to the door.

Kimiko gave him a shove, ignoring the fact that Rowen and Sage had to catch Ryo before he fell. "So run along before you're late!" She shut the door.

Sage helped Ryo back up. "Sheesh your aunt is weird."

Ryo straightened his shirt. "Yup."

"I bet it's because she works at Disneyland." Rowen said, heading to the stairs.

"That could be it." Ryo agreed. "Or that she hasn't had her morning coffee yet."

"How can she stand that stuff?" Sage asked. Coffee was not something he had ever liked.

Ryo shrugged. "Hey she puts up with me."

Rowen opened up his umbrella. Holding it up so his friends could do the same he said, "So then what does that mean for us?"

"It means you're the most patient friends I've ever had."

* * *

Kento was dozing at his desk when he felt the weight of a book bag on his head. "Buzz off." He muttered.

"Oh come on Kento. You're hardly ever like this!" A feminine voice said.

Turning his head Kento up gave a grin, "Morning' Danny."

Danny was a short girl with shoulder length pink hair and brown eyes. She was one of their few friends at school that was a girl. "So why the long face?"

"I got a new bed a few days ago and I'll be damned before I get some sleep on it."

"Aww poor Kento! Do you need a hug?"

"I'd love one!"

Danny gave Kento a big hug. "Maybe you can sleep on the bus?"

"I really doubt that. Have you ever noticed how nuts the drivers are in the rain?"

Danny thought a moment, "You know you're right."

"Morning Danny, hey Kento."

"Hey man." Kento grinned.

"Hi Rowen, where's Sage and Ryo?" Danny asked.

Rowen took his seat beside Kento, "Sage is talking with his little sister and Ryo had to water the plants."

"I so did _not_ need to know that last part." Danny cringed.

Kento laughed. "You asked him."

"And now I wish I hadn't."

Ryo walked into the classroom at this point. "Hey guys."

"Morning' buddy," Kento yawned.

Rowen looked at the warrior of stone, "Your bed again?"

Kento nodded.

"Maybe the problem is your little siblings aren't jumping on you in the morning?"

"That could be it."

Ryo smiled and sat in front of Kento.

Danny sat in front of Ryo, "So how was your guy's break? Anything good happen?"

"Not too much." Rowen answered.

Kento thought for a moment, "Other than the few of us moving in together I'd say it was pretty boring."

Ryo just nodded in agreement.

"Short breaks always are." Danny said.

"You do anything fun?" Ryo asked.

She shrugged, "Not really. My cousin got married but that wasn't anything too fun." She looked at Kento, "So how's Cye?"

"He's good. Busy as a mother hen with the pottery shop."

"And here I was hoping he'd sneak into the aquarium today." Danny sighed. "Oh well."

Sage walked into the room now, just missing the usual group of giggle heads. He crossed the room and sat in front of Rowen. "Satsuki is going to be a handful."

"What did she already get in trouble?" Rowen asked.

"No. She's scolding me about all the girls who are bothering her."

Ryo chuckled. "Maybe she'll send them all running in fear so they don't bug you anymore."

Sage smirked slightly.

"I'd pay to watch that!" Kento said.

"Alright class, settle down." Miss Kasumi said while closing the door. "We have a lot to cover today before you head out to your field trip."

The class took their seats and pulled out their notebooks and history texts books.

"Good now today's history subject shouldn't be too difficult for you." Miss Kasumi wrote a few things on the blackboard, "For the next few weeks we shall learn about the Muromachi period." She looked at the class. "Who can tell me a few things that took place during this time that changed Japan?"

A few raised their hands.

"Mr. Dai."

A boy lowered his had, "We once again had contact with the Ming Dynasty. They asked for Japans support in stopping wokou in coastal areas of China. And since we wanted to improve our relationship with China we agreed to help."

"Very good," She wrote that on the board. "Miss Westin."

Danny smiled, "Near the end of this period Europeans began to arrive."

"For better or worse," Someone in the back said.

Miss Kasumi glared at the student she was sure made that comment. "That's enough of that." She turned back and wrote on the board. "Miss Jai?"

The girl with large pigtails lowered her hand. "Well along with Europeans came Christianity. This later on became illegal."

"That it did." Miss Kasumi nodded. "Mr. Sanada."

"The Nanboku-ch period," Ryo said.

Miss Kasumi nodded, "A very big event. One of two by my standers," She wrote that and a side note to it on the board. "Mr. Hashiba."

"In the later 1400's the Sengoku period began."

"That's the other big one I was looking for." She wrote that on the bored. "Alright for the remaining time of class I'd like you to take notes from your text books. They will be due at the end of class so don't just doodle or pass notes."

* * *

After that class the other lessens went by pretty fast. Soon it was lunchtime and the four friends made their way out to the overly crowded cafeteria. The rain was still pouring outside so the students were confined to the indoors. It's was defining in the cafeteria so the boys took spots on the stairs.

"God if it gets any louder in there I'll go nuts."

"This coming from a guy raised above a restaurant."

"Bit me Sage."

"I'll pass on that." Sage said and took a sip his drink.

Ryo chuckled, "So you think we'll still end up at the aquarium?"

"I doubt it." Rowen said looking out the window.

"I think we will," Kento said, "Why would the rain stop us? It never stops the soccer games."

Rowen looked at him, "Yeah but we have to be on a bus, not on the sidelines of the field watching Ryo score the winning goal."

"And all I got out of that was a really bad cold." Ryo remembered.

"So we can watch Ryo get sicker than a dog, but not stay in a bus?" Kento tilted his head.

"Kento did you forget the last time we got on a bus in the rain?" Sage looked at their friend. "I for one thought that bus driver was going to kill us all."

Kento snorted, "Yeah after all we've faced it's a bus driver that's going to do us in."

"That would just figure." Ryo said.

Sage swallowed what he was eating; "Looks like Satsuki has a few new friends." His gaze was at the table where his younger sister usually sat with all her friends.

"Satsuki is the most out-going person in your family." Kento said.

"She is."

"Why doesn't Satsuki ever eat with us?" Ryo asked.

"Because in her mind you're all my friends before you are her's."

"…Why are girls so complicated?" Rowen asked.

"Dude you don't want to know." Kento assured him.

Rowen closed his lunch box. "We better head back to class. The bell's going to ring soon."

"You're no fun Rowen."

"Not everyone likes being stuck in the mad-dash, Kento."

"But I wanted to give Satsuki a long-awaited hug."

Sage looked at Kento for a long moment.

He let out a sigh. "Cool your jets Sage. It's not like I'm going to touch her butt."

Rowen stepped between the two. "She knows where our class room is."

They packed up their things and headed back to the classroom. Lunch wasn't over yet but it would be in ten minutes and the students were always allowed to wait in class when they were done eating. As they entered the class they saw a few students from the second year talking with three of their third year classmates.

_Well that's trouble_. Ryo thought.

They quickly stopped talking after Sage and Rowen walked past them and sat at their desks. Rowen guessed they were saying some rude remarks either about Sage or Satsuki. He shook his head.

Ryo and Kento sat at their desks. They started talking about animals when "Hey Sage did you and Rowen go to the shelter last night?" Kento asked.

"Yes we did. The first one was too close to the love hotels so we went to one not far from where we live."

Rowen nodded, "We got a cat."

Ryo smiled, "So tell us about it."

"It's a girl." Rowen said. "We got a white American Shorthair, she's about two, and since Sage picked her out I got to name her."

"Which star did you name her after?" Kento asked.

Rowen grunted.

"He named her Ray." Sage said.

"I can't wait to see her." Ryo smiled.

"What is it with you and animals?" Rowen asked.

"I just love them."

Kento grunted annoyed and looked at the group of people a few rows over. "Those sick bastards." He whispered.

"What is it?" Ryo asked. It was rare that school talk got Kento mad.

"They're talking about the figure of a new student and a few other girls." He sighed.

"And this is why some guys wonder why girls hate them." Sage said. A moment later he asked, "They didn't mention my sister did they?"

They all knew that tone of voice.

"I bet they were before we walked in." Rowen said.

Sage glared.

"Just ignore it. It won't do much good if you try to stop them." Ryo said in an attempt to calm the blonde down.

It was then that the bell rang and students left the class before it started filling again. The class began buzzing with talk of conversations not yet finished.

Danny walked over and was about to say something to the guys when…

"Sit down!" Mr. Yoshi commanded as he entered the room.

_Oh he's pissed_. Kento thought. He saw as the rest of the students quickly took their seats.

"Now even though the weather outside is awful we are still going to the aquarium." Mr. Yoshi announced. "If I hear comments like last term those who make them will clean the whole school by themselves."

_Yeesh_. Ryo blinked. _He's not kidding either_.

Mr. Yoshi looked at his class. "So gather your things and we'll head down to the buses." He waited by the door while the class gathered their things.

"God what's his problem?" Danny asked.

"Who knows?" Kento said.

Ryo glanced outside again before joining the other classmates in the hall. He liked rainy days just fine but not when all it did was down poor. It really took him out of his element.

_Whoa where did that thought come from?_ He hadn't thought of things like that since they all got back from Africa. It was still weird for him to be without his armor but he was slowly becoming accustomed to it. No one really even talked about their lives as Ronin Warriors anymore, not even Yuli. _Are we all really so glad that are armors were destroyed?_ He asked himself.

Ryo didn't know.

* * *

Jellyfish are marine invertebrates belonging to the class Scyphozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They can be found in every ocean in the world and even in some fresh water." Rowen read the plaque next to the tank. "Jellyfish lack basic sensory organs and a brain, but their nervous systems and rhopalia allow them to perceive stimuli, such as light, odor, and respond quickly."

"So they have no noses or eyes but they can see and smell?" Kento sighed. "Animals are weird."

Rowen shrugged. "Hey animals are Ryo's department not mine. And all marine life is Cye's specialty."

"Unless it's a bird," Kento pointed out.

"Well yeah there is that."

"It's kinda surprising."

"What is?"

"Well with as much as you like to learn, Mr. Computer, I'd think you'd try to learn about anything you could get your hands on." Kento chuckled.

Rowen couldn't help but smile a bit, "I like to learn but even I have limits when it comes to that."

* * *

Ryo watched a school of brightly colored fish swim past. "Molly's sure are small for being tropical."

"A lot of tropical fish are small." Sage said. "The plaque here even says so."

"The plaque can talk?!"

"Yes! It says hello."

Ryo chuckled. Sage never missed a beat when he wanted to. "I feel bad for fish. They must be so bored in there."

"I don't know about that. They probably get kicks from watching humans all day."

"True. You have to admit, we humans are pretty funny looking."

The blonde allowed himself to chuckle.

Sage and Ryo walked over from the tropical fish zone. "Damn! Fish from that area of the world are colorful." Ryo said.

Sage nodded, "I can't believe that they put squid in there."

"Mmm squid is yummy."

"You just ate an hour ago Kento."

A faint rumbling noise could be heard.

Kento laughed, "So did Rowen but you'd never know."

Pretending not to hear that he said, "Let's move on shall we?" Rowen said before heading to the sharks.

"Ooo Sharks!" Kento followed his tall friend.

Ryo shrugged and followed suite with Sage not far behind him.

As they entered the shark tank area, they quickly took note of the three types of sharks.

This disappointed Kento, "Eh? You'd think with all the advances this country has we'd get a few more sharks."

"Cat sharks, horn sharks, and the leopard sharks," Ryo said.

Halfway through the shark exhibit Kento burst up with, "What the hell is that?!"

Ryo, Sage, and Rowen looked at what Kento was pointing to; it was a few large shark teeth next to a large set of shark jaws that were much larger than the popular Great White.

"Holy shit," Ryo said.

Rowen read the description plaque, "Megalodon."

"Mega is right!" Kento said. "I could almost stand between those jaws. Sheesh."

Sage was now looking at the plaque as well. "Well you wouldn't have too. Megalodon has been extinct for millions of years." He blinked. "A good thing too, I would feel too happy if Cye was swimming with a shark over fifty feet long."

"I wouldn't go near the ocean." Ryo said.

Rowen couldn't hide his growing smile. "Well hold onto your ties, it says here that some crypto zoologists and scientists think that it might still be alive in the deeper parts of the ocean."

Kento swore loudly in Chinese. "I'm never going into deep water. Hell no. Not me."

* * *

The rest of the day at the aquarium was surprisingly uneventful. Sage was glad when they got back on the bus to return to school. He was so sick of the girls behind the counter at the gift shop gapping at him.

"At least it stopped raining for a moment." Ryo smiled.

"I hope Cye had a better time than we did." Kento yawned. "I'm going to take a nap when I get home."

"You do that and we'll start the study session without you." Sage said.

Rowen leaned back on his side of the bus seat, "I have to go to work tonight but I'll join you guys later."

"How late will you be?" Ryo asked.

"Four hours." Rowen said. "I'm filling in for Hana. She's got the quire tryout again tonight and I need to pick up some hours."

"We'll save you some snacks." Sage said.

"Thanks."

Ryo thought for a moment then said, "How is your job at the book store? You never tell us about it."

Rowen shrugged. "It's fine. The people are nice and the pay is good."

"So that leaves you to find a job Ryo." Kento said jokingly.

"Hey I've looked. My aunt wants me to work with her at Disneyland." Ryo shook his head, "No thank you. I don't mind the place but keep the crowds _away_!"

"Yeah that's why she's so weird." Rowen said.

"I see the school." Kento said. "I wonder if classes got out yet?"

Sage glanced at his watch, "They have."

"Aw man it's raining again." Ryo said with a sigh.

"You don't like the rain very much do you?"

"Mmm it's not that I don't like it." Ryo looked at Rowen, "It just makes me feel really tired when it rains all day."

* * *

Ryo picked up the twelve pack of soda in the mini mart. They all had their individual things to buys come study time and he always got the drinks.

Sage walked over to his friend with two bags of chips. "I'm ready once you are."

"I'm ready. We just need to wait for Kento."

"I'm ready!" Kento smiled at them with a large box of doughnuts.

Sage looked at him, "You do plan to share, right?"

"Maybe."

Ryo lead them to the cashier. "Let's pay and get going. I bet Cye's home by now."

"If he's not then we'll start without him." A thought donned on Kento's head. "Oh and I'll need to start the wash if he's not there."

"Just don't hang things up were we can see them." Sage said.

"I won't wash all of it." Kento retorted as they got in line.

"I hope not." Ryo said

"Hey Sage You heard anything from your big sister? I keep meaning to ask, but I always forget."

"She's fine, thanks for asking."Sage looked at him.

"I wonder how long it will take us to get to the apartment in the rain?" Ryo thought outloud.

They paid for their snacks and left the store. It was drizzling outside with still no sign of the sun behind the dark clouds.

"Still raining," Sage held his dark umbrella so that he and Kento could fit under it.

Ryo sighed under his own umbrella. "Yeah, I hope it won't be this way all week."

"Ditto," Sighing Kento then sang, "It's raining, and it's poring! The old man is snoring! He went to bed and bumped his head, and never got up in the morning!"

Sage sarcastically said, "Well that's a lovely thing to be singing about."

Ryo and Kento laughed.

"What's so funny?" A new voice asked.

"Cye! Buddy!" Kento grinned.

Cye smiled and handed Kento an umbrella. "Try not to forget it next time." He said from under his sea-blue umbrella.

"I won't promise anything." Kento opened up his umbrella.

Sage was happy to have his all to himself again. His shoulder felt soaked. "Closed up early today?"

Cye nodded. "It was slow so I closed an hour early."

"So how was it other than slow?" Ryo looked at him.

"It was fine. The landlady ended up sending her son over to inspect the place; she's come down with that cold that's been going around. As usual my shop passed with flying colors."

"That's good." Kento said. "Rowen's got to work for a few hours tonight so he'll be late joining the study group."

Ryo smiled, "He'll catch on fast once he gets there. Then fly past everyone."

"Probably," Kento agreed.

"So how was school?" Cye asked.

"It was fine." Kento said. "The aquarium was an adventure."

"Oh?"

"It turned into a game of hide and seek." Ryo explained.

Sage sighed.

"Just a few more months, hang in there Sage." Cye patted his friend's shoulder.

Ryo and Kento snickered.

"It's not that funny." Sage eyed his two friends.

"If the shoe where on the other foot, you'd think it was funny." Ryo said.

"…Okay you got me there."

"Thought so," Ryo twirled the umbrella a bit.

"At least I'm not scared of a dead shark." Sage said.

This caught Cye's attention, "What?"

Kento groaned.

Sage smirked, "Kento's scared of Megalodon."

Cye burst out laughing. "Megalodon is extinct Kento."

"Yeah and I'm _really_ glad about that." Kento pointed at Cye. "I wouldn't let you in the water if it was still swimming out there."

"You know Kento; there are worse things in the water other than dead sharks." Cye said rather calmly.

"I know but a shark over fifty feet long is just creepy."

"Compared to Giant Squid, Irakandji, sea snakes, and a bunch of other things yes Megalodon would be bad, but that shark wasn't worst; just the best known."

"Oh?" Ryo was interested. "How do you know that?"

"Well my brother in-law bought me a book on extinct marine life last time I was there. He said it was a late birthday present."

"Can I take a look at that when we get to your apartment?"

Cye smiled, "Sure."

* * *

The sun had set long before Rowen reached the apartment that Cye shared with Kento. He was tired from the events of the day and work had been hell. Too many college students trying to get the same books at the same time. Hana really owed him big time for this one, she did say she'd repay him for this; he just hoped it was soon.

He knocked on the door.

"It's open Rowen." Cye called from inside.

Rowen opened the door and walked in. "Sorry I'm late."

"No problem." Cye offered him a soda. "How was work?"

"Don't ask." Rowen took his shoes off then gladly held the soda.

Sage leaned back to look at his friend, "That bad huh?"

"Worse. I'd really rather not talk about it."

"Alright."

Rowen followed Cye into the living room. Kento was working on his math, it looked like Sage was doing history, and Rowen was surprised to see Ryo's nose in a book about extinct prehistoric fish. "Looks like everyone's almost done."

"Ryo's the only one finished." Kento said. "He cheats by looking in the back of the book."

"Hey I'm not the one who started a food fight." Ryo retorted.

Cye groaned and headed to the kitchen. "At least you all cleaned up."

"There was a food fight and I missed it? Damn." Rowen sat between Sage and Kento. He pulled a few notebooks out of his backpack and a large textbook.

"I saw Hana not too long after you left." Kento said, looking at his tall friend.

Rowen looked at him, "Oh?"

"Yup, I gave her hell for making you work tonight."

"Thanks, it was hell tonight."

"I thought it would be. So she said she's making you cookies tonight."

Rowen looked at his Chinese friend. "Say what?"

"She's making you cookies tomorrow to make up for tonight." Sage answered for Kento.

"Good thing Hana's got a boyfriend or I'd be worried." Rowen said before sticking his nose in the textbook.

"When did you see Hana?" Cye asked.

Kento explained what had happened.

At the end of the story Cye shook his head. "Danny needs another hobby."

"Yes she does." Sage agreed.

Rowen decided to change the subject, "So how much did you guys save me?"

"Enough." Cye handed Rowen a bowel of chips with two doughnuts.

Rowen put the bowl on the table. "That's good."

"Hey Cye."

"Yeah Ryo?"

"Doesn't Liopleurodon look like it has a cordial or alligator head?" Ryo showed him the illustration in the book.

Cye chuckled. "I thought that too."

"That thing would eat cordials and alligators for a snack." Rowen said.

Kento added, "With soy sauce and rice."

"Well that sounds appetizing." Cye joked.

"Hey they eat them in America." Kento said. "My uncle tried some alligator once when he went to New Orleans."

"What did he think of it?" Sage asked.

"He loved it."

"Maybe if we ever go back to America we'll have to sample it?" Rowen suggested.

"You bet! I'll try anything at least once." Kento smiled.

Sage shook his head.

Cye sat down beside Ryo. "I'm glad you're enjoying that."

Ryo smiled, "I really am. You know things like this fascinate me."

"Do you want to borrow it?"

"I better not. I might lose it and that would be very bad."

"Yes, yes it would be."


	3. Family Bonds

**Magic**

Chapter Three: Family Bounds

* * *

Ryo blew a falling leaf out of his way as he walked home from school. The first week of October had arrived and with the sureness of fall came leaves that reminded him of fire. Why it was that summer was associated with fire just because of the heat? Ryo always saw early fall as being a time of fire because the leaves looked like a calming fire at the top of a tree. It always seemed to put him at ease.

Even after a day full of nothing but head pounding exams. He didn't like days were he had to stay glued to his desk and show his teachers that he actually learned something. Hell even Rowen joined the complaining session they all had during lunch. They all knew these tests were part of getting a good education so they could do something with their lives.

Or at least _now_ they could…

Ryo quickly brushed that thought aside. Though things like that had been on his mind a lot lately. He wasn't sure about his four friends though and he was not about to bring it up. Since the two Inferno Armors had destroyed one another no one spoke one word about the armors. Not even the Warlords and they still had their armor. Kayura was the last person to bring it up; however, she had assured them it was only to make sure that they were really okay.

As Ryo got closer to the house where he was living he saw a group of children playing soccer in the park. He decided to stop for a moment and watch the kids play; they were all really good at the game in this neighborhood. It surprised him at first how good these elementary kids were when he moved in but they had a way of growing on him.

"Maybe we should give tickets to the winners?"

Ryo jumped a full foot away, "Gah! Aunt Kimiko doesn't sneak up on me!"

Kimiko laughed, "You're supposed to be a cat Ryo. You should have known I was here." She was still in her work cloths and held a large bag of take out.

Blinking Ryo said, "That looks like a lot of food for just us." A thought hit him "Oh is White Blaze out of food again? I'm sorry."

"No, no, no." Kimiko waved her free hand. "The big silly kitty has plenty of nummy things too much on. I bought extra tonight because we are going to have a very special guest."

"Hm? Is it your boss?"

"It's a secret." She sang.

_Well that's not good_. Ryo thought.

Kimiko grabbed Ryo's arm and all but dragged him back to the house. "So how do you think you did on your exams?"

"I really don't know." Ryo answered truthfully. "I hope I did okay, Rowen and Sage will kill me if I didn't."

"Your friends are _so_ _cute_!"

"Aunt Kimiko!"

She laughed, "But really I'm glad that your friends look after you the way they do."

"We look out for each other." He said.

"I'm glad that you do." Kimiko let go of her nephew and unlocked the front door.

Ryo closed the door behind them and took his shoes off. He was sore from being all hunched over. "I think I might go take a bath now."

"You do that. By the time you get out and dressed our guest should be here." Kimiko was glowing with joy for some reason.

Trying not to feel too worried Ryo walked into his room. White Blaze sat up by the bed and yawned before walking over to Ryo. "Hey White Blaze, how was your day?" He rubbed under the tiger's chin. "The guys won't be over tonight. They all had to work but they say hi."

White Blaze gave a small growl in understanding.

"Aunt Kimiko say's we're going to have a guest tonight so you'll have to stay up here." He set the book bag down by his desk. "But Mia did say that when she and Jack get back you can go stay on her property."

White Blaze gave a roar of happiness.

Ryo picked out a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom, White Blaze quickly following him.

* * *

White Blaze stayed by the door while his young friend washed the boring events of the day away. He never had understood this 'school' or 'work' that humans had to do all the time. But he supposed that he was better off not understanding it. In all reality it was probably something created so humans wouldn't be bored.

A sigh escaped Ryo as he leaned back against the inside of the tub. The steamy hot water was warming him up from the cooler air outside. He never minded the cool air it was always the freeze your butt off air that he hated. Not that he knew many people that did enjoy that.

The large white tiger twitched his ears. He could hear Kimiko and someone elts whispering downstairs. That scent of the second human was very familiar… he looked at the floor as if seeing right through it to the ground level below. It was exactly who he thought it was.

After a few more minutes of soaking, Ryo got out of the bath and began drying off. He put on his undergarments, washed out blue pants, and his Milk Ball shirt before combing through his messy hair.

"Ah the feeling of being clean, huh White Blaze?" Ryo glanced at the tiger from the mirror.

White Blaze looked up from grooming himself.

Ryo chuckled.

Kimiko set the three boxes of take out on her small table. She sat down and turned on the small heater under her table to low. "I'm glad your flight went smoothly." She said looking at the man across the table from her.

He smiled. "Me too, but like I said, I slept most of the way."

"I'm sure you did. It's a long flight from Peru! I wouldn't last long in a flight that long. What is it fifteen hours?"

"I've no idea." The man answered. "I made myself stay up all night both days before I got on the flight. I get cabin fever too."

She giggled. "Oh I think I heard the door open. Ryo! Come see our guest!"

Ryo thought, _I know that voice..._ Ryo walked down the stairs and into the living room. He stopped dead in his tracks.

It wasn't good.

It was wonderful.

"Dad!" Ryo smiled winder than he had in a long time.

Makoto Sanada smiled at his son. "Surprise!"

Ryo hugged his father and kept smiling. "I had no idea you where coming back today."

His father chuckled. "Well we wanted it to be a surprise of course. Kimiko told me that you were cramming for your exams and we agreed that you should focus on that rather than my swift return."

"That's just like you dad."

Makoto ruffled his son's damp hair, "I want what's best for you. You know that."

Ryo chuckled then looked at his father, "So what was it like in Peru?"

"Well," He started, "It was very different. But in a good way, my translator was a very nice old man named Juan. I was actually surprise at how good his Japanese was. The food was better this time too but that beer they drink down there knocks me flat on my ass."

"Then don't drink it." Kimiko said.

"I'm not going to anymore."

"Good." Ryo said.

"Oh I got you something." Makoto pulled a bag close and began rummaging through it.

Ryo blinked and watched his father.

"Ah here we go." Makoto handed his son a small box. "Open it."

"Okay." Ryo opened the box and saw a warm colored bracelet. "Wow."

"I bought it at one of the villages up by Machu Picchu. The lady that sold it to me said it brings luck and invoke one's inner strength."

"Thanks dad. I really like this." Ryo put the bracelet on. It wasn't like the other things his dad brought him from far off countries. There was something about this one that he really liked. "The colors are really intense."

Kimiko looked at the bracelet, "And here I thought for sure you'd bring him a soccer ball."

"Well I was going too but it wouldn't have fit in my luggage."

They all laughed about that.

"So how long are you going to be here?" Ryo asked.

"Two weeks." His father answered. "Then it's off to Italy."

"Oh you luck butt!" Kimiko said. "I've always wanted to go to Italy!"

"Just two weeks?" Ryo couldn't hide the sadness in his voice even if he wanted to.

Makoto nodded. "But there is one thing I want to talk to you about." He looked at his son, "It deals with my traveling."

_Oh boy…_ Ryo thought.

"If you can keep your grades as good as they are now."

Ryo blinked.

"Then at the end of the school year, after your friend's wedding, then you are more than welcome to join me on my next photography trip."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Alright!"

Makoto smiled, "I'll make sure it's not Africa or America since you've already been to those places."

"I wouldn't mind going back." Ryo said. "I really didn't get to see much last time."

"Well we'll see then." His father picked up his chopsticks. "But why don't we eat now? I bet the food's almost cold."

"Yeah," Ryo agreed.

* * *

After dinner Ryo walked out onto the back porch and sat down. By now it was dark outside but only a few stars could be seen because of the glow from the city lights that surrounded them. It was times like this he missed being up in the cabin back in Yamanashi. The last time he was there Rowen went with him and they had a lot of fun.

That all started when it was revealed that Rowen had never really been camping, save for the night of the war with Talpa. Since Ryo would have none of that he took his friend to his cabin for one week. It was really a treat for Ryo as well as Rowen because Ryo got to show off his forest and Rowen got to see a ton of stars. The only bad thing that happened was when a huge storm rolled over and the power went out for two days.

Makoto walked out and sat by his son. "I can tell its fall."

"The air is brisk."

"Yes it is."

Father and son just sat by each other for a long time in silence. Taking in just being next to each other again because they knew after two weeks it could be two months before they saw each other again. They did things like this at night when Ryo was a child and Makoto refused to take jobs out of the country. They just sat and took in each other's company.

"So how have your friends been?" Makoto looked at his son.

"They're good. Cye's pottery shop is really pulling in some big money from what I gather. Kento still helps his family with the restaurant and he says there's talk of opening a new store in downtown Tokyo. Sage is helping out a friend who owns a Dojo near Tokyo Bay, he teaches advanced and beginning classes. Rowen works in a bookshop not too far from the apartment he and Sage live in.

Mia as you know is engaged to Jack. As for Yuli the last I heard he's getting really popular at school."

"Because of the influence you five have on him." His father nodded, "And how is school life?"

Ryo shrugged. "Same crap different day usually, Danny trying to hook us up at every turn, Her brother Bue has started hanging out with us and he's a cool guy. But our friend Dai will be moving to Sapporo next month."

He chuckled. "I bet your friend Danny grows up to be a match maker."

"It wouldn't surprise me one bit."

Makoto looked at his son for a long time before asking, "And how have you all been enjoying a normal life?"

Ryo blinked. He hadn't expected his father to ask him that kind of a question. The first time he heard about the armors he was furious and scared. Rightly so, but he had also sounded happy and sad when Ryo told him that the armors where destroyed.

"Um…" Ryo leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. "I'm not really sure to tell you the truth. I'm happy but upset at the same time. During the war with Talpa it was like the Wildfire Armor became a part of me, despite its origins. When Mukara came to challenge me because of the Inferno Armors that was really the first time I wished that I didn't have the armor anymore."

"Why is that?"

"Because I didn't want to use it that way. I didn't want to have to use the Inferno Armor to settle petty sores with armor similar to it. We all agreed to use the Inferno only if we had no other choice because of how intense it was. When I had to fight the Black Inferno it was like being in a match against strength with no reason for it."

"That makes sense." His father nodded.

"After the armors were destroyed Mukara's tribe was kind enough to return us back here. Once we got here we all went home and we didn't really talk to each other for a month. Now we don't talk about any of it anymore. Not the armors, not the war, nothing. The last person to say anything about it was Kayura."

"What did she say?"

"She asked is we were okay. No one answered and so I guess she knew that we didn't really know ourselves." Ryo let out a long sigh. "I'm still not sure if I'm okay or not and I've no idea how the others feel."

"I see. Kimiko has told me that you still have nightmares and you always look over your shoulder."

"What else has Aunt Kimiko told you?" Ryo asked.

"Just that and how well you've been doing." Makoto answered.

"Old habits do die hard." Looking over at the lawn Ryo said, "I bet I'll be like that the rest of my life."

"I hope it doesn't haunt you like this the rest of your life."

He looked back at his father, "Haunt me?"

"Yes." Makoto leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "I have never been in a war. But I know many who have seen war, not like yours of course. It's always the same too. They can be old well rounded men but they are still haunted by things they have seen and done for the greater good."

Ryo didn't say anything.

His father knew this conversation would head downhill so he decided to change it. "Ryo."

"Yeah?"

"Have you decided what you would like to do with your life yet?"

"Yeah-well it's more like an idea."

"Please tell me."

"I thought about having an animal sanctuary or becoming a forest ranger."

His father smiled. "Both would be right up your ally."

Ryo smiled. "Yeah and I think I'd be really good at both."

"I'd be proud of you no matter which you chose."

"Thanks dad."

Makoto smiled a bit sadly, "When the light is as dim as it is now, I can see so much of your mother in you."

Now it was Ryo's turn to smile sadly. "I really wish I could remember her."

"So do I, I'm sure that she is so proud of you right now."

"I'll keep doing all I can to make mom proud." Ryo said. "I just hope that she doesn't scold me for anything when the time comes."

"I'll stop her if she tries."

"Could you?"

"Probably not."

Ryo laughed.

Makoto chuckled. "You get your stubbornness from her so you have an idea what that would be like."

"Hey dad after mom passed away was there ever a time when you thought about remarrying?"

"Oh there were a few times when the thought crossed my mind. I would have liked it if you had grown up with a mother at least in figuratively speaking. But by the time I was able to get back into the dating scene I just didn't want to."

"Because of me?"

"Yes but not in the way you're thinking. You were five and you needed me more than I needed to find another woman. I was happy to stay the way I was for you."

Ryo blinked.

"That's my first job." His father said. "If you ever marry and have children you'll understand. A man is head of the house in many ways. He has to provide for his family, take care of his wife and children when they are sick, and put them before himself at all times."

Ryo nodded.

* * *

White Blaze watched with amusement as his human friend tried to pull a shirt over his head. It was late and he knew that Ryo had school in the morning yet there was no way the boy would sleep tonight. That was always how it was when the boy's father returned; it was almost as though Ryo refused to sleep.

He finally managed to get the shirt on and gave a triumphant smile. "I win!"

The tiger rolled his eyes.

Ryo ignored White Blaze and sat on his bed. A smile hadn't left him since his father had gone to bed. He was so happy that his father was here and that he'd be here for two weeks he could hardly think about anything else. What would they do? Surely he could bring his friends over, they liked his dad and vice versa.

White Blaze brought Ryo out of his racing thoughts by turning the bedroom light off.

The warrior of fire blinked. "You telling me to go to bed, White Blaze?"

A growl was his reply.

"Okay, okay, I'm laying down now. See?"

White Blaze nudged Ryo's hand before curling up by the bed. In a few minutes Ryo was fast asleep and White Blaze kept watch before he too fell asleep.


	4. Gather For Study

**Magic**

Chapter Four: Gather for Study

* * *

Kento blinked, "Oh so your dad came home last night?"

Ryo leaned against his desk and nodded, "Yeah. He'll be here for a while so that'll give us some time to catch up."

"Where was he?" Sage asked.

"Peru, it's in South America. He's been there a few times and he likes it there."

"Peru? Isn't there some big old city near there that the Inca's lived in?" Kento asked. "It's on the tip of my tongue but I just can't-"

"Machu Picchu." Rowen said for him.

"Yeah that's the one!"

Ryo chuckled.

"Should we move the study group back so you can spend more time with your father?" Sage looked at Ryo.

"No we can still have the study session at my aunt's house tonight. Dad wants to see you guys again; he also said that he'd fix up a dinner for all of us."

"He can cook?"

Ryo looked at Kento, "Well he had to feed me somehow when I was a kid."

Kento chuckled.

Sage smiled then looked at Ryo, "Do you mind if Satsuki tags along tonight? She wants some help with her math and Cye offered to help her with her English."

"Yeah that's cool." Ryo nodded, "She's at the door by the way."

"Hm?" Sage turned and sure enough, his little sister was waving from the door. "I'll be right back," the blonde stood up and walked to the door.

Rowen took his seat, "I wonder if she's cancelling?"

"Why would she do that?"

"She's been job hunting and she might have an interview."

Sage brought Satsuki over to the others, "Satsuki has a question for us."

"Sup?" Kento looked at the dark haired brunette girl.

Satsuki said, "Do you guys mind if I bring a friend to the study thing tonight? She's helping me with my history report on Kyoto."

Ryo shrugged, "I'm okay with that."

"The more the merrier," Kento said.

"It's not Kaede is it?" Sage crossed his arms and looked at his sister.

Satsuki put her hands on her hip, "Sage, brother dearest, do you really think I would _torment_ you like that?"

"Yes." Sage and Rowen both said.

Ryo and Kento laughed.

She giggled, "Yeah I would. But no it's not Kaede, I'd slap her after fifteen minutes of her endlessly staring at you like a piece of candy."

"Thanks that's actually nice to know." Sage looked at her, "So who is it?"

"A new friend that Danny and Sachi know, her name is Rachel and she moved here from Kyoto about a month ago. I was complaining yesterday after school about my paper and she offered to help."

"Is she American?"

"German," Danny's voiced chimed in, "Don't worry Sage she won't drool over you. You aren't her type."

At that moment, Miss Kasumi entered the room, "Okay if you don't belong in this grade then get out please."

"Meet us out front after school." Sage told Satsuki as she dashed out of the room.

The class took their seats and Miss Kasumi began her lesion, "Now today we will start on the achievements of the Kamakura Period."

* * *

Keno opened and closed his hand a few times, "If I wake up tomorrow and my fingers have fallen off I will sue Mr. Yoshi for abuse."  
"It wasn't that bad."

"Not everyone has your brain or love of school Rowen." Kento eyed his tall friend.

Rowen shrugged.

Ryo chuckled, there was never a dull moment when he was around is friends.

Zipping up his book bag, Sage looked at the sky, "Looks like we might be getting a storm."

"Kinda does," Kento agreed, "That'll be nice though. It maybe October but it's still pretty warm for this time of year."

"No kidding, I don't think a heat wave will be pleasant next week," Rowen let out a sigh.

"On that topic-what do you want for your birthday? And be specific." Kento eyed his tall friend.

Rowen gave him a blank stare, "I don't know."

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Kento calm down," Sage intervened, "Just get him a gift card."

"That's something only a lazy person would get."

"What's something only a lazy person would get?" Satsuki's voice sounded behind her brother.

Sage turned and looked at his younger sister, "A gift card for Rowen since his birthday's next week."

"Ha! No it's the perfect thing for Rowen since he can't ever make up his mind."

Rowen threw his hands in the air, "I'm not used to people buying things for me who aren't my parents. Okay?"

Ryo put a hand on Rowen's shoulder, "I feel your pain."

"Nice to know someone does."

Satsuki giggled.

"Where is your friend?" Sage asked.

Satsuki turned and pointed, "Over there talking to Hanna. They are both in the quire so I think they are exchanging notes-no pun indented."

Sage looked at the young girl talking to Hana. This Rachel couldn't be any taller than Kento, and her hair was just a little more darker than Cye's. "So that's Rachel."

"Yuppers."

"She's cute." Kento said before ducking behind Ryo, narrowly avoiding the elbow Satsuki was going to give him.

Ryo looked back at his Chinese friend, "I am not saving you from her."

"Ouch!" Kento clutched his chest, "Ryo you wound me!"

Ryo and Kento both laughed.

Satsuki had never seen these two like this before, "You guys are in rare form today."

"Ryo's father came home last night," Sage explained, "He's always in a really good mood after he sees his father."

"Oh. Where was he?" Satsuki looked at Ryo.

"Peru."

"South America? Wow that's a change from here."

"My dad's been all over the world." Ryo said with a hint of admiration in his voice.

"Maybe he can help me with a few history things?" Satsuki wondered aloud, "But I already asked Rachel for help."

"She in your class?" Rowen asked, almost dreading that he would have to tutor two girls with math tonight.

Satsuki shook her head, "Rachel is in her second year. She just moved here because she could get into Tokyo Medical College easier." She raised her hand up, "Oi! Rachel! Come on!"

The auburn haired girl looked at Satsuki then back to Hana, saying a quick goodbye, before walking over to the small group of boys. She paused before saying, "Hello." There was a small hint of an accent in her voice.

Sage's old habit of getting uncomfortable kicked in, but he managed a nod.

Kento smiled, "Hi there, I'm Kento Re Faun." He said cheerfully.

"Rowen Hashiba."

"Ryo Sanada."

"And the quiet one here is my big brother Sage." Satsuki said, poking her brother in the sides.

Sage grabbed Satsuki's finger, "It's nice to meet you."

"And you all as well, I'm Rachel Hoth." She bowed.

Satsuki ripped her finger away from her brother. "Should we be going now?"

Ryo nodded and looked at Kento, "Cye still meeting us there?"

"Yeah he may not be there until after sun set though. It's been busy at the shop the last few days."

"Alright let's get going then, not sure about you guys but I'd like a head start on Mr. Hard Ass's assignment." Ryo turned and lead the way out of the courtyard.

"Mr. Hard Ass?" Rachel asked as she walked by Satsuki.

"That's what Ryo called Mr. Yoshi, he's well known for handing out really hard biology homework." Kento explained.

"It's not that hard." Rowen said.

Kento glared at his blue-haired friend, "No one asked you, Rowen."

"Are they always like this?" Rachel asked.

Satsuki giggled.

* * *

White Blaze lay near Ryo's bed, he wasn't asleep just listening to the sounds of autumn. Early autumn was easily the tiger's favorite time of the year, it was easier to nap and he never felt that the strong heat would get to him. He especially loved that Ryo always left the little window open before he left for school.

The tiger's nose moved and he lifted his head up, he caught the scent of his human friends. Standing up White Blaze went to the window, stretching on his way there, looking out it he saw Ryo and the other four former-Ronin walking up to the house. However, there were two girls with them and only one that White Blaze recognized.

White Blaze had met Satsuki once over the summer when he had followed Ryo to help Sage and Rowen move into the apartment.

So then, who was this other girl? It was clear that she was not Japanese.

Deciding not to dwell on the matter the tiger instead made his way out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

After entering the front room, White Blaze spied Makoto sitting leisurely at the dining table reading the newspaper. The resemblance between father and son in habit was shocking to him, sure the two didn't look very much alike but they did things in many similar ways.

The doorknob clicked and White Blaze heard Ryo and the others enter.

"Dad! White Blaze! We're here."

Makoto put the paper down and stood up, walking to the door he smiled. "Hello everyone."

Kento smiled, "Welcome back to Japan."

"Thanks Kento, it's nice to be back." Makoto looked at the two girls, "Hello, who are these two?"

"Dad this is Sage's little sister, Satsuki and her friend Rachel."

Satsuki smiled, "Nice to meet you."

"Yes it is." Rachel agreed.

Makoto raised his eyebrows and looked at Rachel, "Your accent… is it German?"

She smiled a little and said, "Yes."

Makoto looked at his son's friends, "How have you boys been?"

"Been good," Rowen said, "How was Peru?"

"Wonderful as usual," Makoto smiled and led the young men into the living room.

"How many times have you been to Peru?" Sage asked as he opened his book bag.

"This was my tenth trip, I like it there South America is a fun place."

"I wish I could see the world." Satsuki said longingly.

Makoto chuckled, "You're young you'll get there."

Ryo sat down at the table and started pulling his homework out. "Dad Cye'll stop by later."

Makoto nodded, "Alright."

Sage sat down beside Kento, who sat down beside Ryo, who had Rowen sitting beside him, who was next to Rachel, who was next to Satsuki. It was a good thing the table was big.

Kento let out a small sigh, "Okay so what first?"

"I really think we should get start on the biology." Ryo's voice was almost dripping with dread at the very idea; still he wanted to get it over and done with.

Rowen nodded, "Probably a good idea."

Kento groaned before pulling out the homework assignment, "Why do we need biology anyways? It's not like any of us will ever use it."

"Because it's required," Sage answered.

Rachel looked at Satsuki, "Why don't you pull out your history and we'll get started on that?"

Satsuki nodded and began fishing around in her book bag.

A noise upstairs reminded Ryo of something, "Hey dad where's White Blaze?"

Makoto looked around, "He was down here a minute ago."

"White Blaze your pet?" Rachel looked at Ryo.

"His tiger," Satsuki answered before receiving a light nudge in the side from Sage.

"Huh?" Rachel was now confused. Though she had heard rumors around the school of a boy owning a large white tiger, she had thought it was just that, a rumor.

The room was very quiet until Ryo finally spoke, "White Blaze is a Bangle Tiger.. how I got him is a very long story, and he usually stays out of sight when people he doesn't know are around."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry if White Blaze comes down he won't hurt you," Kento said with a grin.

Rachel gave an unsure smile.

THUNK.

All eyes turned to Ryo who had apparently head-butted the table.

"What's wrong man?" Kento asked.

Ryo muffled his reply, "I really hate biology."

Makoto chuckled, "You boys need some help with that?"

"That would be nice," Kento looked at Ryo's father.

Satsuki glared at her paper, "Rachel can you help me with this answer?"

Rachel looked at the paper, "Which one?"

"Number five."

"In what century was Kyoto given its official name?"

"Yeah."

"The eleventh century," Rachel answered.

Satsuki wrote down the answer, "Hey Rachel what part of Kyoto are you from?"

"You're from Kyoto?" Makoto asked, keeping his finger on a page in Ryo's biology book so he could copy the answer.

Rachel shifted her weight, "Yeah my parents moved to Okinawa when I was three for their jobs, dad's a teacher and mom's a lawyer. We moved into the Minamai-Ku in Kyoto when I was seven. My family lives just outside the lines of Higashiyama-Ku."

"Ah I see."

Rachel turned back to Satsuki to help her with the next question.

Sage glanced at his sister or a moment then went back to his own homework. He was about half way through his biology homework already, the topic of this assignment being something he actually knew about was a big help. A noise upstairs caught his attention and he looked up at the ceiling, Sage listened closely as his eyes followed the sound to the stairs.

White Blaze came into view, holding a binder in his mouth.

Sage looked at Ryo, "Ryo you've a visitor."

"Hm?" Ryo looked over to the stairs and smiled, "Hey White Blaze."

"Looks like he brought you a gift," Rowen commented.

"Hey it's my notes I was missing! Thanks White Blaze."

The large tiger walked over and set the binder on the table. Licking his chops, he looked at the two young girls at the table who were oblivious to his presents.  
Ryo opened the binder and began looking through his notes, "Here we go."

"Can I have a look?" Kento asked.

"Sure." Ryo moved the binder so they could look at the notes.

White Blaze walked behind Ryo and curled up between him and Rowen.

Rowen unconsciously reached down and scratched the head of the tiger laying beside him. "Mr. Yoshi sure does want complex answers."

"Then I hope I never get him." Satsuki chimed up.

"Don't say that," Sage looked at his little sister, "Because then you will have him."

"Nmahh!" Satsuki stuck her tongue out at Sage.

Upon hearing this noise, White Blaze lifted up his head and made a soft growl.

Satsuki looked at him, "What? He's my brother I'm allowed to give him hell."

Kento and Rowen chuckled, while Sage just shook his head.

Ryo, on the other hand, was busy looking at Rachel, since White Blaze had growled he had noticed she stiffened like a plank of wood. "Rachel you okay?"

"Umm…" Was the reply as the young auburn haired girl slowly turned and looked at White Blaze with wary eyes.

"Don't worry the giant house cat won't eat you," Kento waved his hand.

White Blaze roared at Kento.

Ryo laughed, "Nop he's in the mood for Chinese tonight."

"Hey!"

* * *

A few hours had passed by of hard study and trying to make Rachel feel a little more relaxed around White Blaze. Then Cye arrived at the house to help Satsuki with her English, while Makoto started dinner.

"Okay Americans and the English talk funny." Satsuki stated.

Cye snickered, "They think the same about us so we are all even."

Satsuki looked past Cye at Rachel, "Rachel did you have as much trouble with English as I am?"

Rachel shook her head as she wrote her answer to an algebra problem, muttering something that the others couldn't understand.

Cye shook his head, "Just write the sentence a few times until you are happy with it."

Kento closed his history book, "Phew I think I'm done."

Cye looked across at his roommate, "You sure worked on that a long time."

"Hey there's a lot to go through for the first few years of the Kamakura Period," Kento pointed out.

White Blaze tensed up and twitched his ears, which caught Ryo's attention, "You okay White Blaze?"

The tiger nudged his head against Ryo's knee before grunting.

Sage glanced at the spot where White Blaze was, "Maybe he's tired?"

Ryo shrugged and stroked the tiger's head.

Makoto spoke up from the kitchen, "If he is hungry I have some cuts of meat that are ready, he can snack on those."

White Blaze decided to take that offer so he stood up and made his way into the kitchen.

Ryo said, "It smells really good dad."

"Should be done soon," His father told the young group.

"What are we having?" Rowen asked.

"Shabu-shabu," Makoto answered.

"Yum! I haven't had that for a while," Satsuki said happily.

"This is the first time we've had someone's parent cook for us, other than Kento's mama and dad." Cye pointed out.

Sage nodded, "It's kind of strange."

"Dad doesn't get to cook very often so this is a treat." Ryo glanced at the kitchen.

White Blaze walked out of the kitchen and looked at the group of young humans surrounding the table. A strange sense of satisfaction filled the tiger as he gazed at the young men, if fate could just be kind enough to let them stay this way forever White Blaze would be in its debts. However, the tiger learned early on in many cruel ways that once fate touched you the way it did the Ronin… there would never truly be any going back to normality.


	5. Sick Day

**Magic**

Chapter Five: Sick Day

* * *

By mid-November, the cold weather was really setting in now and the natives of Japan were sure of an early winter this year. It was rather surprising how many people of Tokyo did not like the winter. They found it harsh and unforgiving. A favorite season was spring.

Spring was the favorite for many.

Ryo was so grateful when the lunch bell rang that it was almost sad. Mr. Moto just made them write a ten-page essay in class about what they wanted to do with their lives. Since Ryo was the only one of his friends without a definite plan, he had found this hard. Sure, he had ideas but nothing was set in stone. Now that lunch was here, he was glad to be done with it.

The former leader glanced over to see his blue-haired friend. Rowen was still writing oblivious for once that the bell even rang. He only stopped when Mr. Moto stood beside the desk. Then it was done and the two of them could go to lunch. It would also be the first time they could talk today since Rowen was later than usual.

Standing up Ryo asked, "So why so late today?"

"Sage had a really high fever this morning, so I stayed behind until it broke," Rowen sighed as he picked up his bento box. "It would figure that everyone but us would get sick."

"Autumn colds are bad." Ryo held his own bento box as they made their way down the hall. "First Kento, then Cye, now Sage. At least Cye is getting over his cold quickly; I was really surprised when Sage got sick."

Rowen nodded. "So was I. He never gets sick! At least not since he was little; He must have the stronger antibodies of us."

"Yeah, it's usually you, me, and Kento who get sick. Then Sage and Cye have to play doctor with all three of us," Ryo shrugged, "Now we have to play doctor to them."

"Not me, Satsuki is following me home today. That's the other reason I was so late, she came to the house this morning."

"Well Sage is her brother. You can't blame her for getting worried." He pulled open the door to the roof. "I bet Cye and Kento's siblings are worried too."

Rowen nodded and walked up the stairs, Ryo behind him. "I'll never understand all that."

Ryo knew what Rowen meant by that. Both of them had grown up without any siblings so things like that were not easy for them to understand. However, it was easier for Ryo to understand these things than it was for Rowen. On the flip side though Rowen could understand what parents try to do a lot better than Ryo could.

It was things like this that could lead to very interesting conversations. Right now though, they were more worried about their three friends than conversations on only children. On top of all this was the strong feeling of déjà vu.

"So are you still keeping an eye on Cye's shop?"

Ryo nodded, "Yeah, I'm still surprised he let me do this." He sat down by the fence. "Nothing too bad happens though. I got in trouble the first day by those girls Cye warned us about."

"Let me guess what happened," Rowen sat beside the former leader, his back against the fence pole. "The two giggling nut-heads thought Cye sold the store and they wanted to cry."

Laughing the shorter one replied, "Something like that. They thought Cye had given me the shop because he went home." He opened the bento box. "So after I told them that I was watching the store because Cye was sick they went off on all these things to do for him. After fifteen minutes of this they demanded to know where he lived so they could be nurses."

"Poor Cye," Rowen opened his drink. "He gets almost as many girls flocking after him as Sage."

"Girls like nice guys I guess," He took a bite out of his rice ball.

After a long draft of his drink, the blue haired man looked up to the sky. The clouds that drifted above almost gave off a playful nature. "Hey Ryo."

"Hm?"

"What are your plans after graduation?"

This caught him off guard. Normally their conversations did not take this kind of path so Ryo wasn't sure what to say. He thought for a moment then ate the last bit of the rice ball. "I haven't given it much thought." He admitted. "I know dad and I are going somewhere but other than that I haven't made any plans." Looking over he said, "You?"

Rowen shrugged, "I think I'd like to go back to Osaka for a month. I miss that place." He looked at Ryo. "Then of course there are college options."

Ryo chuckled, "There are those yes. Are you going to attend one here or in Osaka?"

"I haven't really gotten that far but most likely I'll stay here." He said, "I'd like to do something in business and Tokyo knows more about business than Osaka."

"Osaka just does food."

Rowen chuckled.

"I'm surprised you aren't in the kitchen cooking with Cye sometimes."

"I don't mind cooking I just don't think I'd like to make a living out of that."

Ryo took a bite from his sushi that Kimiko had prepared for him that morning. "What kind of business are you going into?"

"Probably engineering."

"You'd be good at that since you like numbers."

"Nah I just like using my brain."

Ryo looked over his shoulder at the school grounds below. "I'm surprised you don't want to pursue a career similar to your father's."

"The same could be said for you, you're eye is as good as your father's."

"Aww thanks," Ryo smiled, "But I'd rather stay in Japan. Don't get me wrong I'd love to 'see the world' and all. I just like it here better." He looked back at his tall friend.

Rowen nodded. "I think I know what you mean."

Ryo finished his last bite of sushi and looked back at the grounds below.

After a while, Rowen followed his friend's gaze down to a small group below, that consisted of Satsuki and her friends, "What are you looking at?"

"Bue must sick too, like his sister." He said, "I don't see him at Satsuki's group, I was going to ask him if he wanted Danny's homework later."

"Ah."

"Maybe I should take their work to them? I know the apartment isn't far from Cye's shop."

Now the blue haired one looked at him, "Ryo."

"What?"

"Sometimes your heart is just way too big."

The former leader grinned sheepishly. "I can't help it."

* * *

Mr. Yoshi put the calk down. "There you now have your assignment for the night. I expect them to be in tomorrow with no excuses."

_One of these day's we are going to find out why you are such a hard ass._ Ryo thought as he gathered his papers up and put them in his bag.

Rowen walked up to Mr. Yoshi and was given a set of papers. "Thank you."

"Just make sure Mr. Date gets the assignments done." Mr. Yoshi warned. He handed Ryo the other set of papers. "The same goes for you with Mr. Rei Faun."

"I will," Ryo put the papers in his book bag. "Oh and-"

"Can I help you?" Mr. Yosh's eyes shot to the door.

Ryo and Rowen looked over.

"Um.. I'm here to pick up the homework for Danica Westin." Rachel stood straight in the doorway. She already had a jacket on with a soft green scarf hung around her neck.

Mr. Yoshi looked at a sheet of paper. "You must be Miss Rachel Hoth, correct?"

Rachel nodded.

He handed her a set of papers, "Make sure you give this back to Miss Kasumi first thing tomorrow."

"I will," Rachel took the papers, "Thank you." She gave a small bow then left the room.

Mr. Yoshi looked between Ryo and Rowen. "Well get going."

Rowen and Ryo both left the room without another word.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?" Rowen took out his bike helmet.

Ryo nodded. "I'm fine to walk. And besides you drive almost as fast as Sage, I'd like to breathe thank you." Glancing at the motorcycle in the parking lot the short boy shook his head, "I still can't believe your father bought you that."

Rowen chuckled, "I'll see you tomorrow then." He zipped up his jacket and walked to his bike. Satsuki stood there waiting for him and he put the helmet on her head.

The former leader smiled as he watched Rowen drive away on the motorcycle with Satsuki clutching onto him for dear life. It was amazing that he hadn't been pulled over yet but somehow that didn't surprise Ryo. They all knew how sneaky Rowen could be when he wanted.

He turned and walked to the crosswalk, he had to be at Cye's store until six that night and he had two miles to walk before he got there. Not that he mined, walking was fine by him and he was helping a friend. Ryo crossed the street and caught sight of a familiar scarf.

_I bet Mr. Hard Ass forgot to add notes to Danny's homework._ Ryo thought. He watched Rachel for a few minutes before he finally walked over to her. "Rachel?"

"WAH!" Rachel jumped and slapped a hand where her heart was. She took several breaths before looking wide eyed at who scared her. "Don't ever do that again!"

Ryo blinked once, his eyes wide as well. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to scare." After a moment he asked, "Are you okay…?"

"I will be once my heart slows down." She took another deep breath. "Can I help you?" She asked looking at the older boy.

Ryo gave a sheepish smile, "I was just going to check to see if there were notes with Danny's papers."

Rachel shifted as they waited for the Walk sign, "I already checked and the only one without notes was the last assignment of the day."

"I thought that would happen. Do you want to take her my copy of the notes?" Ryo knew Danny would return them in the morning. He also knew he'd never hear the end of talking to Rachel, but he didn't want a friend to fall behind.

"No that's okay," She began walking when the light came on. "I understood what he wants her to do."

Ryo walked a few paces behind her, "Did you?" He was surprised Mr. Yoshi was well known for complex homework.

After they made it across the street, Rachel turned and faced Ryo.

The former leader looked down at Rachel. They were a little too close for his liking so he took a step back.

"I thought you lived the other direction?" Rachel said after a few more minutes.

"I do. But my friend Cye is sick so I look after his pottery shop after school until six."

"Oh you're the one who's watching that pottery shop." She giggled as if remembering a joke.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"I promise you don't want to know," She smiled and looked up at him. "You must be a really good friend though. Not many shop owners would trust another person to watch their shop for them."

Ryo couldn't help the pride he felt, "I owe Cye a lot so I do what I can." He crossed his arms. "You don't seem so timid like you usually are."

"Well you're not a complete stranger anymore." Rachel replied. She turned and started walking again.

The tiger eyed boy fell into step with her but kept a foot between them. "I'm not?"

"No." The German girl shook her head, "Between Satsuki dragging me to some study groups and hanging around with Hana and Danny, I think I know you well enough to say I know you."

He looked at her, "I think I get it."

"I wasn't trying to be confusing." Sky blue eyes looked at tiger blue ones, "Sorry."

Ryo laughed, "No it's okay. Like I said, I think I get it."

They stopped at another light. "Well I turn here," Rachel looked at him, "Thank you for the heart check, Ryo."

Ryo gave his sheepish smile. "I am sorry about that, but you're welcome."

* * *

Cye sat up in his bed and rubbed his face. His fever had finally broken about ten minutes ago but he still felt like a glob of gew. Still he had to get up and to check on Kento and make sure Ryo got to the store alright. Slowly Cye found his way onto his feet and made it to the door.

No need to check on his roommate, he heard the snoring coming from the closed door. At least he knew that Kento was sleeping at last. The whole week they had been sick neither of them had gotten much rest. Kento was actually sent home two days ago for falling asleep in class.

The cook found his way out into the front room and into the kitchen. He was not even remotely hungry but he had to get a drink before calling the shop. After taking a long draft of the water, he had sitting in the fridge Cye felt a little better, not by much but enough.

Cye picked the phone up and used the speed dial.

After a few rings, Ryo answered. "_Hello Mouri's pottery shop, how can we help you_?"

He tilted his head. "That's how you're answering the phone now?"

"_Cye?! You sound like you awful_."

"Gee thanks a lot Ryo." The cook did not need a reminder of how stuffed up he was. "At least I'm not coughing like Kento, he sounds like a seal it's so bad. Is everything okay?"

"_Yeah everything's fine. I've sold three things today and you got a get well card from your adoring fans_."

He could almost picture the strange look Ryo must have had. "Great well at least I'm missed."

"_Oh you are. Trust me I'm about ready to call Mia and see if she return White Blaze to me. They keep looking in the window like I'm about to pull you out of a hat_." Ryo sighed. "_I have homework for Kento so I'll bring it by on my way home. Do you want me to bring the mail that's here?_"

"That would be nice." Cye leaned against the wall. "I'll let you get back to looking after the shop. Call me before you leave so we don't fall asleep before you get here."

"_Will do, I'll see you later Cye. Get some rest_." Ryo ordered before hanging up.

Cye hung up and took a deep breath. It was time to take some medicine again so he could breathe. Turning around he opened the fridge again and took out his bottle of nice cold water. Rubbing the side of his face, he walked out of the kitchen and head for the bathroom.

Setting the bottle on the counter top he opened the cabinet. "Where did I put that medicine?" He asked himself. "Ah ha," He took out the pill bottle and opened it with ease. That was the only good thing about all the pill bottles he had to open over the years for his mother. By now, he could open almost any bottle.

He took the recommended amount and used the water to swallow. Setting the open bottle down he let out a satisfied sigh, it would take a good fifteen minutes for the pills to kick in but somehow just by drinking regular water he was slowly feeling better. Cye put his hands on the cool counter and closed his eyes. Sleep was poking at him with the utmost intent but he really didn't want to nap again.

Sleeping was all he had done all day and he really needed to look over the bills for the shop. It was probably close to the time when he needed to order some more clay too. Come December and he would be busy with the orders for gifts and he wanted to stock up as soon as he could. This also meant that as soon as he was well enough to get back to the shop that he should probably stay a few extra hours so he could have a few more of the popular designs on hand. He wasn't as good as his father had been but he was getting here.

_Let's see…_ Cye closed his eyes and started to go over things in his head. _The power bill is due at the end of the week. I need to call mom and get Jiro's number again-better make sure sister is well too. My rent on the store is due at the end of the month. I need to call Mrs. Wu so she can get her order. Then there-_He paused in mid thought.

Why could he hear water moving?

Cye opened his eyes and they became very wide. He had to be hallucinating. Water had risen into the air from his water bottle and was moving in some obscure shape. _How did this happen?_ Cye asked himself. Did he do this? Was something trying to attack?

As his heart began racing with panic the water reacted and moved faster, almost rippling. He took a sharp intake of breath and the water splashed onto the floor. Cye looked down at the puddle at his feet as if waiting for it to move again. Nothing happened and all Cye could see was his scared reflection looking back at him from the water.

* * *

Danny opened the door, her face half hidden by the doctor mask she wore. "Hi Rachel," She said is a raspy voice.

"You sound horrid," Rachel said. "What have you been drinking?"

"Soda of course," Danny moved and let Rachel into the large apartment that she shared with her family.

Rachel shook her head and entered the apartment. "Danny sodas won't help you get better. Do you know how much sugar is in soda?" She looked at her. "You need to drink juice and water."

"There's a lot of sugar in juice," Danny closed the door. "Besides we don't have any in the house yet. Mom still hasn't come back from the store. Bue, the little toad, drank what was left of the OJ this morning."

Someone scoffed, "That's your fault for not getting up."

"Shut up Bue!" Danny glared at her annoying little brother.

Bue stood in the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. His spiky pink hair was a mess and his brown eyes looked sunken in. "Make me."

"Please don't start," Rachel took her scarf off and put it on the coat rack along with her jacket. "You both sound like crap so try not to talk if you can help it."

"Yes Doctor Hoth." Bue gave her a smile. "But it's so hard when my sister is being bitchy."

"I'm not a doctor yet…" Rachel half whispered.

Neither heard what she said. "Hey Doc.," Danny said. "Thanks for keeping your pretty eyes on us."

"Danny get in bed," Rachel said. "And stop trying to flatter me. I will not tell you were the chocolate is hidden, even if you gave me a million yen."

Danny snapped her fingers. "Drat!"

Bue moved into the front room and sat on the sofa. Groaning he said, "So what did I miss in class?"

"The math test," Rachel answered. She opened her book bag and pulled out the papers. "Here is yours, Danny."

"Thank you a billion times over." Danny held her homework and began looking through it.

"Here Bue," She handed a thinner set to her classmate.

He grinned and held his papers. "You are no nice Rachel."

"Son of a monkey toe!"

Rachel and Bue both looked at Danny, "What is it now?" Bue asked.

"Mr. Yoshi didn't give me good instructions again." She growled. "I swear he hates all his students!"

"I read the instructions and I think I can help you." Rachel offered. "Ryo offered to lend you his notes but-"

"You talked to Ryo?" Danny and Bue stared at Rachel.

The auburn haired girl shifted her weight, "Well… um... he came over to me after school to see if Mr. Yoshi gave you notes. I said no and he offered to lend you his, then I told him I had an idea of what the teacher wanted."

Bue sighed, "Phew I was worried there for a moment."

"About what?" Rachel tilted her head.

"Rachel you are so cute." Danny giggled. The poor girl had no idea that Bue had the crush on her as well as Satsuki.

"Huh?"

"Oh never mind, I'll thank Ryo for worrying the next time I get to school." Danny sat down in her beanbag by the TV. "So then how do I do Mr. Yoshi's assignment?"

Rachel sat by her ill friend and began explaining the assignment to her. After ten minutes she was done, "And that seems to be the sum of what he wants."

Danny held her head in one hand. "He expects me to finish that tonight? I think he's smoking crack."

"Danny…"

"Okay, okay I'll get started on it." She waved her hand at her younger friend.

Bue leaned forward, "Hey Rachel what did you get on problem six?"

"45 R-Squared," She answered but neglected to tell him that it was wrong.

"Thanks."

Rachel let out a sigh and leaned back against the wall. She was so tired from all the running around she had done today. _I'll sleep well tonight_. Biting her lip she though, _I hope I haven't gotten Ryo in trouble by telling Danny and Bue that he tried to help me_. The last thing she wanted was to get caught up in one of Danny's schemes to set those four up. Just because Danny promised she wouldn't didn't mean that she'd keep it.

_I see a long winter coming._ She hung her head and put her hands on the sides of her neck. _Great_…

* * *

Kento yawned and sat up in bed. His head was spinning like a blender but he had to get up. A cold could not be the thing to knock him on his back. No he couldn't allow it not now that it was close to when they usually ate dinner. Neither Cye nor he was in any condition to cook so it was take out order again.

He all but forced himself up from bed and held onto the wall for support. "Whoa room spin." He grunted.

"You woke up." Cye stood in the doorway looking more awake now than he had all week.

Kento raised an eyebrow. "Why are you holding the mop? Did you get that sick?"

"No." Cye looked down the hall. "I just spilled water from my water bottle on the bathroom floor so I'm cleaning it."

There was something fishy about Cye when he said that. But Kento was just too sick to care. "Do ya need some help?"

"No I got it all cleaned up." He opened the closet door by Kento room and put the mop away. "Ryo called a few minutes ago. He should be here in an hour and he's bringing dinner for us."

"He is…?"

Cye closed the door. "Your mother went to my shop." He looked at his now wide-eyed friend. "She heard from Yuli that we were sick so she went to the shop with a lot of food."

"I love my mommy!" Kento said in a high voice, which was quickly followed by coughs.

His roommate winced at the sound. "Lay back down Kento. I'll go fix us some tea while we wait."

"No way, I need to try to move around a little more." Making himself stand up straight, he said, "I'd like to be able to go back to school on Monday."

Cye nodded. "Alright then I'll help you over to the sofa." He walked over and helped his best friend out into the front room. It was warmer out there now that the sun was coming through the window. This was welcoming warmth to the cold that was now swirling in their bedrooms.

Kento sat of the sofa and smiled. "Thanks Cye."

"Any time."

"You look better than you did this morning."

He shrugged. "I feel better than I did this morning."

"That's good. Now if I could only get feeling better." Kento leaned his head back. "I can't wait until Ryo gets here with mom's cooking."

"You'll have to." Cye sat beside him. "And don't chew on the sofa while you wait."

Kento chuckled. "Aw you take out all my fun." He fought off another cough and closed his eyes. "I wonder how much longer we'll be sick?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Cye picked up the remote. "Let's see what's on the news."

"Okay."

Time seemed to fly by as they watched the news. Three crimes had been solved, a thunderstorm was due next week, a mini mart had been robbed, and an early winter was to be expected. Nothing too unusual but Kento still felt a small tingle of unease in his stomach. Maybe it was just the cold or the different thing that had happened that day.

Just as the news ended a knock came at the door. "Hello?"

"Coming Ryo," Cye stood up and staggered a bit. Regaining his balance he walked over and opened the door. "Hi Ryo."

A large bag of food was in his arms. "Hey Cye, Look what followed me home." Ryo moved to the side.

"Hey Yuli!" Kento called from inside.

Yuli smiled as he held the other bag of food. "Hey I missed you guys."

"You shouldn't be holding that with a broken wrist." Cye said.

"It's not heavy." Yuli looked up at Cye as he and Ryo entered the apartment. "Besides my cast comes off next week, thank god."

Cye closed the door and gave a slight cough. "Well that's good to hear."

Ryo set the bag of food on the table and took the other from Yuli, setting it beside the other. "How are you two feeling?" Ryo asked.

"Like The Blob." Kento answered.

Yuli chuckled. "You don't look like The Blob."

"Thank the gods." Cye smiled. "I'm actually okay right now. I was feeling like crap earlier."

Ryo handed Cye the mail from the shop and the apartment. "You look a lot better than you did yesterday."

Cye held the mail and began going through it.

Kento stood up and swayed before sitting back down. "That was a bad idea." He muttered. "Okay time to heat up dinner. What all did mom send over?"

"Um..." Ryo and Yuli began taking out the food and uncovering it. "Looks like she brought ham fried rice, egg foo young, kung pao chicken, some soup, and cookies."

The young Chinese man felt like he wanted to be all tear eyed. "I love my mommy!"

Cye chuckled. "And you think Rowen is spoiled."

"He is!"

"You both are." Yuli said.

"You want a noogie?"

"You can't even stand. What makes you think you'd catch me?"

"If I wanna catch you, I'll catch you."

Time for an intervention, "Hey Kento, how long should we heat this up for?"

"Hm? Oh about three minutes."


	6. New Years and Mouse Ears

**Magic**

Chapter Six: New Years & Mouse Ears

* * *

Satsuki giggled. "We're so bad!"

Sage smiled down at her. "I'm sure we're not the only ones skipping class today."

"Probably not, But I'm laughing since it was _your_ idea." Satsuki looked up at her older brother.

"Sage can be devious when he wants." Ryo said.

"Oh I know that better than you ever will." Satsuki looked at Ryo. "He is my brother after all."

Kento chuckled. "You're worse than him though."

"This is true." She smiled. "So where are we going?"

"My apartment," Ryo said. "Kimiko won't be home for an hour and she won't care."

The blonde looked at him, "You sure she won't mind?"

"She won't." Ryo and Kento said in unison.

Satsuki figured these two had done this a few times. "So Kento what's it like being in the apartment with Cye gone?"

"Weird." He answered. "I heard from him last night and everyone says hi. But it's really weird to be in that big apartment by myself."

They stopped at a light and Ryo said, "Maybe we should ask my aunt if you can hang out at my place over new years?"

"Oh I'll break in anyways." Kento grinned.

Ryo laughed.

Sage and the others crossed the light and turned the corner onto the street that lead to the house that Kimiko owned. A smile crept onto is face. "Ryo."

"Hm?" Ryo looked at him.

"You've a visitor."

"I do…?" Ryo looked at the front yard and smiled. "Dad!"

Makoto looked over and smiled. "Skipping class I see."

"Um... well... I uhh… yeah," Ryo rubbed the back of his head.

"I hope you have a key. I can't find mine." He glanced over. "Hello Sage, Kento, Satsuki it's been a while." He gave a smile.

Satsuki smiled. "I've saw some of your work in the latest National Geographic, it's really good."

"I do my best." Makoto watched Ryo open the door.

"Well let's get in before we catch another cold." Sage said.

Ryo nodded. "Yeah."

They all entered the large house and took of their shoes and coats. "Wow it's warm in here."

"It usually is once I get home." Ryo noted. "I'm not sure why either."

"Heat emanates off you." Sage said. He walked into the front room and was greeted by Ray. "I see you missed me." He starched her head.

Makoto looked at the cat. "Ah so she's yours?"

"Yeah Rowen and I bought her to keep us company." Sage picked up the white feline. "She'll follow me around all day but she won't go to sleep at night unless Rowen's home."

Makoto sat in a chair. "Must be torn on who she owns."

Satsuki took Ray from Sage. "Ray is so pretty!" She began stroking the cat. "We should bring her back a toy mouse."

"Why she won't do anything with it." Sage said.

Kento chuckled. "Ray's not one for mice. She likes bells."

"Yes she does."

Ryo walked into the kitchen and filled the Mickey Mouse teapot with water. "So how was your trip dad?"

"It was nice. The owner of the magazine I was shooting for liked the pictures so I made good money this time." Makoto watched his son. "I see White Blaze is not here."

"He's up in the mountains by a friend's house." Ryo turned the water off and put the teapot on the stove.

Kento sat at the table. "He's happier up there than being stuck in this house."

Makoto nodded. "I don't blame him for that."

"I miss White Blaze."

"So do I Satsuki." Ryo walked into the front room.

"How long are you going to be here, Makoto?" Kento asked.

The older man smiled. "Until the seventh."

Ryo smiled. "Then where are you off to?"

"California. I owe an old friend a few favors so I'm going on a Big Foot hunt with him."

"Big Foot…?"

"Long story, don't ask."

"Okaaaayyy… how was Italy?"

Satsuki's eyes went wide. "You where in Italy?!"

Makoto laughed. "Yes I was in Tuscany to be exact. It was very nice and I've about had my fill of Italian food. I'll be happy to eat here again."

Satsuki's brown eyes got all dreamy. "I hope I get to go to Italy one day. Or Paris... Paris would be better."

"Paris isn't everything the movies make it out to be." Makoto said.

"You've been there too?!"

"Dad's been almost everywhere." Ryo stood up and went back into the kitchen. "Anyone want marshmallows with their hot cocoa?"

"Sure."

"Marshmallows!"

"You bet!"

"Non for me but thanks."

The door opened and Kimiko's voice could be heard. "Wow lots of shoes. I wasn't expecting this much company!" She poked her head around the corner. "Ryo! You and your friends should be at school!"

"Oh come on Kimiko." Kento came to Ryo's defense. "It's the last day before winter break. We won't learn anything new."

"Well when you put it that way it doesn't sound so bad." She giggled and took off her shoes. "I see you got here just fine, Makoto."

"If Ryo and his friend didn't skip school I'd still be out in the cold."

"What? You lost the key _again_?!"

"I'm sorry. I am a busy man."

"Oh don't give me that." Kimiko walked into the room. "No more keys for you."

Ryo walked out with a tray of the hot chocolate. "Anyways... how was our day, Kimiko?"

"Eh?" She blinked. "It was good." Snapping her figures she reached in her pocket. "Who's all going to be here for New Years?"

"Sage and I won't be." Satsuki said. "We have to leave in a few hours to get to the station."

Kento watched the older woman. "I'll be here."

Ryo handed Sage a cup. "What are you looking for?"

"Da ha!" She held up some tickets. "I have tickets to Disneyland over the New Year."

_Oh god…_ Ryo looked at his aunt.

Kento blinked. "Eh? That looks like a lot of tickets."

"I was hoping that you," she looked at Kento and Sage, "along with Cye and Rowen might be staying here for New Years. I got enough tickets for everyone and even hotel rooms." Kimiko smiled. "But you should see your families."

"Wow how free tickets do you get each year?" Satsuki asked.

Ryo went back into the kitchen. "A lot."

Kimiko giggled. "Well since you two can't go, is anyone else up for it?"

Makoto shrugged. "Sure why not? What do you think Ryo?"

"How crowded will it be?"

"No more than the usual." Kimiko said. "No one's going to drag you off and smother you with hugs, ya know."

Kento and Satsuki laughed.

Sage gave Ryo a sympathetic look.

"I guess it would be okay."

"Hey I'll see if I can go with you if you want?" Kento offered.

"Kento is so considerate!" Kimiko smiled. "You can use our phone if you need to."

"Thanks."

Ryo picked up the phone. "You sure it's okay?" He looked at Kento.

"Sure I'm sure." Kento took the phone from him. "I'll just have to make sure mom and dad don't need me to help with the restaurant. If they don't then I just need to see what my siblings want."

Ryo sighed and looked over at Sage. "Looks like crowds for New Years."

Sage chuckled. "Just wish not to be in so many this year."

"I think I'll do that."

"Huh?! Chun Fa who put you in charge of the phone?"

* * *

Putting down a large hand mirror Kayura covered her mouth as she started giggling. Seeing Ryo so uncomfortable about being in a crowded area was just funny. After all he had gone through he hated crowds?!

White Blaze lifted his head off her lap and looked into the mirror. He missed Ryo but he was a lot happier out in the woods.

"Aww you really miss him, huh?" Kayura began strokes the tiger's head. "I don't blame you. They are fun to be around."

A floor bored creaked.

Kayura turned to the door. "Who's there?"

The door slid open and a Dynasty Soldier knelt down. "Forgive my intrusion. But Warlord Cale has requested that you see him by the north pond."

"Thank you very much." Kayura and White Blaze stood up. "You may return to your duties."

"Yes my lady." The soldier stood up and walked out of sight.

The young girl looked at the tiger. "Shall we?"

White Blaze led the way. He knew what the north pond was for.

Cale stood a foot away from the pond that sat in the north most corner of the castle garden. His eyes narrowed as he watched the water swirl and ripple against the chill of the wind. The northern part of the castle belonged to him. They had divided the castle into four, along with the Dynasty land. Everything in the north belonged to him. Dais had taken the west, Sekhmet the south, and Kayura the east.

For the last few days something had been nagging at him. Almost chewing at his brain as though things were wrong in the land of the dead, Whispers about a grudge almost echoed off his part of the garden. One that was souly against the armors they wore.

"Cale."

He turned his head at the sound of Dais's voice. All three of his comrades had come t his request. But he was not expecting the white tiger to follow.

"It's rather rare that you invite us over here." Sekhmet said.

Cale nodded. "I like privacy." He said. "But something is wrong."

Kayura tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Have a look at the water." He said.

White Blaze twitched his ears and walked over to the water first. He growled at the sight.

This caught the attention of the others and they too looked into the water.

"What is it?" Kayura asked.

Cale stood beside her. "This pond is a dead body of water and as such we can use it to see the spirit worlds. I've heard whispers the last few days so I decided to take a look. And I found them like this."

Sekhmet narrowed his eyes. "The souls of those who died rejecting the armors."

"Why are they all grouping like this?" Dais asked. "It's as though they are expecting something."

"The sprits are whispering about a soul of a very angry little girl."

* * *

BUUIZZZZ BUUIZZZ

"Shut up!" Kento slammed his hand down on the hotel alarm clock. "For the love of god it's way too early."

Ryo sat up and rubbed his face. "Is it eight already?"

"Unfortunately," The Chinese man replied. He looked at the other bed and snickered. "You look like Frankenstein's monster."

"Gee thanks Kento." Ryo ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't sleep well in different places."

Kento sat on the edge of his bed. "And here I thought it was just nerves for the crowds."

"Ha ha funny," Ryo stood up and stretched. "I've just never been one for crowds."

"Yeah I know." Kento stood up and walked over to the closet. "If you wanna wash up first go ahead."

"Nah I'm alright. You can go."

Kento took out his orange shirt and dark blue pants. "Okay I'll be ten minutes."

"I'll time that."

"You would." Kento smirked and went into the bathroom.

Ryo let out another yawn and opened his suitcase. Pulling out his blue pants and red shirt the former leader began thinking of the events the day would bring. The only thing he knew for sure was that he would sleep very well tomorrow night. It was New Years Eve and they all planned to stay up to watch the sunrise. Between running around in the park and staying up all night…

A knock came at the adjoining door. "Ryo? Kento? Are you two awake?"

"We're up dad." Ryo pulled up his blue pants. "You can come in if you want."

The door opened and Makoto stepped into the room. "You look tired."

"I am."

"When we get back later you should take a nap." Makoto handed Ryo his shirt. "It's a bit chilly outside so you may want a jacket too."

"Good thing I brought one." Ryo reached in a small bag and pulled out the brightly colored bracelet.

His father smiled. "I hope you don't think Kimiko is forcing you to be here."

"Hm? No I don't, besides it might be fun as long as it doesn't start snowing."

"I'm glad." He sat on the bed. "This was my idea, you know."

Ryo looked at his father. "Your idea?"

"Well we don't get to spend New Year's together often and neither of us has been here. I thought it might be fun." He smiled. "I had hopped all your friends would be here, as they say the more the merrier, but this will be just as good."

"Dad you're too much some times."

"Oh good you're up!" Kimiko smiled. "Ryo I have something for you and Kento."

"You… do?"

"Mmhm." She held up two pirate mouse ears.

Ryo raised an eyebrow.

"Pirate ears?" Makoto found this highly amusing.

* * *

Kento whistled as he looked around in the Grand Emporium. "I'd never have to go shopping for my siblings again if they had one of these outside the park."

"I think Chun Fa would take everything Goofy and go nuts." Ryo picked up a Goofy hat.

"That would drive mom up the wall!"

"And no one wants that."

Kento shook his head. "Hey where did your aunt go?"

Ryo looked around. "Oh she's by the snow globes. I swear we have more of those at the apartment than-"

"Isn't that Rachel?"

"Hm?" Ryo looked at Kento.

Kento pointed to the back corner by the music boxes. "I thought I saw Rachel over there."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"Rachel?"

Ryo looked at his father. "Kento thinks he saw her."

Kento nodded. "Yeah she's a year younger than us."

"I remember her."

"Well like I said, I think I saw her." Kento said.

Makoto smiled. "Well then you can look for that music box you wanted to get Mia for her wedding."

"That's true, who did she want again?" Kento looked at Ryo.

Ryo thought for a moment. "I think she said Cinderella."

"Okay what is it with girls and Cinderella?" Kento crossed his arms. "It's got to be the most popular story for every girl on this planet."

"Because every woman is waiting for prince charming!" Kimiko chimed from behind them. "We all want our prince to take us away from our daily labors and make us princesses!"

The two teens looked at each other. "…"

"Kimiko you are still a young girl in a Halloween costume." Makoto said.

"Maybe so, But it is the truth."

"Anyways…" Kento and Ryo started walking over to the music boxes.

The music boxes all varied in style and sizes. They were arranged alphabetically with the price tags right in front of them. Finding Cinderella wasn't that difficult, the entire Disney princess music boxes seemed to be crafted to shine brighter than the others. The question was what kind of Cinderella did Mia want?

There was one with her and the prince-whatever his name was-at their wedding, another with her at the castle, a final one with just her being surrounded by the birds and the mice. What to get? The wedding one seemed appropriate but it was more expensive than the others. It didn't help that they all played the same song either.

_If a dream is a wish your heart makes then how does Disney explain nightmares?_ Ryo mused as he picked the wedding themed one up. "I guess this is as good as any."

"Well it matches the occasion." Kento said.

"Kento? Ryo?"

They turned, "I thought I saw you earlier, Rachel." Kento gave her a smile, "Hi."

Rachel held a snow globe of the castle in the center of the park; she gave a smile, "Hello."

Ryo looked at her. "Well I won't be scaring you today." He smiled.

"Thank god." Rachel looked at the music box then at them.

Kento saw where this could go. "A friend of ours is getting married in spring. We thought this would be a good present."

"Oh I see."

The Chinese man looked at the mini castle. "That your favorite?"

Rachel shook her head. "No, I don't have a favorite. I'm getting this for a friend." She shifted her weight. "This is my first time here."

A voice chimed in from behind. "A first timer!"

"WAH!" Rachel jumped forward and almost landed between the two boys.

"_Kimiko_! Don't scare the poor girl!" Makoto scolded his sister-in-law.

Ryo looked down at the scared girl. "Rachel are you okay?"

"I think so." She answered in a quiet but high voice.

Kento chuckled and patted her shoulder. "Poor Rachel."

"I'm sorry dear. I wasn't trying to scare you." Kimiko gave a sheepish smile.

Rachel took a deep breath and looked at the older woman, "It's okay."

Ryo decided to make the introductions. "Rachel this is my aunt, Kimiko, and you remember my dad Makoto. This is Rachel; she's a school friend of ours."

Kento noticed Rachel's surprise at that last comment.

"It's nice to see you again." Makoto offered a smile.

The auburn hair girl returned the smile. "Um you too."

"Are you here with your family?" Kimiko asked. "Maybe we can all hang out? I love showing new guests around."

"Huh?"

Ryo sighed, "Kimiko works here."

"Oh." Rachel shifted again. "Well I'm actually here by myself."

"What kind of fun is that?" Kento asked. Why someone would go to Disneyland alone was beyond him.

"Well my grades aren't the best so my parents wouldn't send me the rest of the money I needed to go to the big family reunion we have every New Years. So I decided to use the money I had to come here."

Kento did quick math. "It's not that much to get to Kyoto."

"The reunion is in Berlin." Rachel said. "It's a lot of money to get from Japan to Germany."

"Would you like to spend the day with us?" Kimiko offered.

That caught all three teens by surprise.

"I don't want to impose…"

Kimiko just kept smiling.

Kento shrugged. "Well it is a lot more fun to be here in a group than by yourself."

Rachel looked at up Kento then up at Ryo.

He too smiled, "It's okay. Maybe we can get to know you better without Danny giving us the smug smirk of hers."

Giggling she nodded. "Okay I'll hang out with you guys since you are so insistent."

"Good. I can tell you all kinds of things." Kimiko smiled.

Kento shook his head. "Let's pay for these things and get on some rides."

"Where are we going first?" Rachel asked as she followed them to the cash register.

Kimiko thought. "We are closest to Adventureland and Tomorrowland."

"Let's go to Adventureland and head clockwise." Ryo said.

Rachel looked at a map of the park on a wall. "Pirates of the Caribbean is over there." She giggled. "You can match he ride to your ears."

Makoto looked t the young girl. "You should have ears too Rachel."

"Huh?" She blinked.

Kento put his arm around her shoulders. "Ar ya lil' wench, yee want ta be a salty ol' pirate?"

She gave a weak smile. "Sorry Captain Kento, but I get very sea sick. I wouldn't want to ruin your ship."

"Yee be a scurvy land lover, say's I."

Ryo chuckled. "Kento you do that way too well."

"I do it with my siblings all the time." He took out his wallet. "Pirates is easily the favorite ride for my family."

Rachel blinked, "Wow how many times have you been here Kento?"

"My family has come here twice a year since it opened." He put the souvenirs on the counter so the clerk could scan them.

"Lucky you," Rachel sighed and stiffened when something was put on her head.

"Perfect fit," Makoto said.

Ryo looked at the ears. "The Haunted Mansion?"

Rachel took the ears off and smiled. "Now this I'll wear."

They paid for their items and walked out of the Grand Emporium. The crowd had gained some numbers while they had been shopping. Turning west to Adventureland leaving World Bazaar behind entering a place almost swarming with children. A large group almost stampeded over them as they ran to see Goofy and Mickey.

"Wow they're determined." Rachel said.

"Kids always love seeing Mickey." Kimiko sang.

"That is the truth." Kento looked over and smiled. "There's Pirates of the Caribbean."

Ryo blinked "Holy shit, have a line."

"Wow." Rachel looked at the line. "How long is the ride?"

"Fifteen minutes." Kimiko answered. "The line may look long but it usually goes pretty fast."

Makoto looked at the three teenagers. "Let's go then." He led the way over to the line followed by Kimiko. Ryo and Kento went after them with Rachel just behind them.

The line was moving pretty fast and in almost no time the group found themselves inside the ride.

"What's that smell?" Rachel asked.

Kento sniffed. "The Blue Bayou."

Rachel looked up at him. "I don't think a bayou is supposed to smell like spices."

Kento laughed.

"Rachel, the Blue Bayou is a restaurant in here." Kimiko giggled.

"…" She blinked and hung her head. "Wow I feel stupid."

Ryo put his hand on her shoulder. "You've never been here, how would you know?"

"True but still…"

"Ah looks like it's our boat." Kento looked at Rachel and Ryo. "The back is the best place."

"Why do you get whiplash like on a roller coaster?" Ryo asked.

"No but you don't have kids screaming behind you."

Rachel giggled. "You've a strange sense of logic Kento."

"So I'm told." Kento got in first, followed by Rachel then Ryo. Kimiko and Makoto got in the front with two other adults.

The boat moved down into the water and the only sounds heard were the water, crickets, and a banjo. As they got further down the water they could see the Blue Bayou and all the guests there eating away.

Kimiko looked back at the three teens. "We are eating there for dinner." She whispered.

Three pairs of blue eyes blinked.

Soon a voice could be heard, "Psst avast there! It be too late to alter course maties and there be plundering pirates around. Lurking in every cove waitin' to bored."

Rachel looked up. "A talking skullll—WAAHH!"

_"Dead men tell no tales!"_

* * *

Ryo laughed as he looked at the picture. "Kento you look terrified!"

"I'm soaked!" Kento corrected. "I get so freakin' soaked on that mountain that it's pathetic."

"How do you think Rachel feels? She was right next to you." Kimiko said.

Yet the girl in question was swaying back and forth humming.

Makoto chuckled. "She looks fine to me."

"That song's stuck in my head…" Rachel said slowly.

"Mine too." Ryo said.

"Well from one extreme," Makoto looked at Splash Mountain, "to the other." He then looked at the Haunted Mansion.

Rachel looked at the mansion. "It's beautiful…"

"And occupied by nine-hundred and ninety-nine happy haunts." Kento said.

"Must be really crowded in there," Rachel looked at Ryo. "Think you can handle that many?"

"They're ghosts." Ryo smirked. "Happy haunts don't scare me."

"Let's hope not." Kento looked at Rachel. "Wanna sit with me again?"

"Sure." She gave a smile.

"Just don't scare her Kento." Ryo warned.

"I would never." Kento sounded sarcastic.

"I hope not." Rachel looked up at Kento and gave him puppy eyes. "I scream loud and if you were to lose your hearing that would just be awful."

Kimiko smiled as the teens lead the way to the line. "Looks like they are having fun."

"I'm glad." Makoto looked at her. "Just don't get too many ideas in your head Kimiko."

"I promise nothing."

The dog howled as they passed it. "Whoa!"

"You okay Rachel?"

"Yeah it just surprised me." She looked up at Kento.

"You scare easily." Ryo looked at her.

She turned and shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah I know. I've always been an easy one to scare."

Passing through the pet cemetery, they entered the queue and looked around at all the people. It was really crowded but the music was just loud enough to give one that haunting sensation. A melody that was simply beautiful.

Ryo looked at a well-dressed man in a portrait. But something was odd. "The picture is… aging?"

"_Where hinges creek in door less chambers, Where strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls…whenever candlelight's flicker though the air is deathly still. That is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight_."

"Ahh the Ghost Host," Kento took Rachel's hand and led her into the stretching room.

"_Kindly step all the way in please, and make room for everyone. There's no turning back now! Hmmm hmmm hmmm_."

Rachel looked at the portraits. "Wow."

"_Our tour begins here in this gallery_..."

* * *

After the ride was over they all stood out by the exit. "That was fun." Ryo said.

Rachel eyed him, "You weren't on the car that stopped backwards on the hill."

"Yeah that wasn't so much fun after the first two minutes." Kento said.

Kimiko looked at her watch. "We better head back over to Adventureland."

"Hm? Why?" Makoto and the others looked at her.

"Because we are eating dinner at the Blue Bayou."

Makoto looked at the young waitress and smiled. "I'll have the filet mignon with the sautéed spinach."

_Spinach…ew_. Ryo looked at her. "I'd like the five-pepper roasted prime rib with the vegetables."

"And you sir?" She looked all dreamy at Kento.

Kento smiled. "The buccaneer's beef short ribs, veggies please."

"And you Kimikoiko?" She smiled at her co-worker.

"Oh my usual."

"The mahi mahi." She looked at Rachel. "And you miss?"

"I'll just have the seafood jambalaya, please."

The waitress nodded. "I'll be back with your orders soon." She picked up the menus and walked over to the kitchen.

"Are you all having fun?" Kimiko asked.

Makoto nodded. "Yeah."

"Of course!" Kento grinned.

Ryo and Rachel nodded.

"Rachel, why don't you tell us a little more about yourself?" Makoto looked at the girl.

"Um." she blinked. "What all do you want to know?"

Kimiko looked at her, "How about what kind of stone that is on your necklace?"

"Peridot, it's my birthstone."

Makoto blinked. "Then your birthday is in August?"

Ryo looked at the girl next to him. "What day?"

"The seventh," She looked at him. "Danny told me yours was on the fifteenth."

"Happy late birthday," Kento said. "Do you work near Yokohama? I've seen you over there from time to time on my way to work."

"I've seen you too." Rachel nodded. "I work in a teahouse over there."

"That sounds fun."

"Some days it's not." She sighed. "There's a bar next door so getting home at night is hard sometimes."

Ryo and Kento cringed. They now knew which teahouse she worked at and the bar next door was famous for its drunks.

"What's your favorite color?" Makoto asked.

"Mint green," Rachel answered and then she smiled sheepishly. "I like pastel colors."

"Then you have a calming personality."

She blinked and tiled her head as she looked at Kimiko. "Huh?"

"Oh nothing!"

"What kind of jobs are you looking for?" Ryo asked. "You always have thick books at school."

"I want to be a pediatrician. What about you?"

Ryo shrugged. "I haven't decided yet." He looked across the table, "Kento's the only one with a plan."

"Yup, I will take over my family's restaurant." Kento held up his hand. "I'd do it now if it wasn't for school."

Rachel giggled.

"Here's your dinner!" The waitress began handing out the plates. "They're hot so be careful."

"Thank you Mitsu."

"Of course Kimiko."

Kento grinned at his dinner. "This looks great!"

"It does." Rachel looked out at the boats. "This is a really different way to look at the ride."

"That is it." Ryo and Kento said in unison.

"How about after we are done and dinner has settled a little we go for another ride on Pirates?" Makoto suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Kimiko smiled.

"Yeah we just need to remember," Kento pointed at Rachel, "They wants the red head."

Rachel smiled, "Well I'm sure you two strong and able gentlemen can protect me from such salty sea dogs."

"Oh hell no, we're going to sell ya off to them." Kento grinned.

"I'll just break a rum bottle over their heads then."

Ryo chuckled, "That would hurt."

"I'd like to hope so." Rachel replied.

* * *

Ryo let out a yawn after pulling over his pajama top, "What a day."

"No kidding, we'll sleep tonight," Kento mutter from his bed.

"Yeah." Ryo sat on his bed and looked out the window, "That was kinda cool to run into Rachel though. I hope she had as much fun as we did."

"Probably more than us," Kento sat up, "It was her first time there and all."

Ryo nodded.

"She'll be a good friend." Kento mused to himself.

"Before or after she gets hell from Sage's fan club?"

"Hey I'll chase those air heads away." Kento said.

"Yeah sure you will, let's get some sleep. We'll need to rest if we're getting up to make wishes."

Kento flopped back down, "I don't think I'll ever understand that."

Ryo snickered before turning out the light.


	7. Brownies

**Magic**

Chapter Seven: Brownies

* * *

"I'm home!" Rachel called as she walked into her medium sized apartment. It was late and she had been so busy at work.

Two cats came running over to her from the small cream sofa. One was an orange tabby cat and the other was a brown cat with white paws.

Sitting down she smiled tiredly at them. "Did you two have a good day?" She ran her hands over their heads and along their backs. Then she took her shoes off. "Oh gods my feet are so sore..."

Pumpkin and Espresso rubbed all over her as she slipped off her jacket and put her house slippers on. Purring contently and then following her into the bedroom.

Espresso leaped onto the bed and his lime eyes focused on Rachel, who had opened the closet. Pumpkin on the other hand climbed into a box with an old pillow.

"You two are cute." She looked at them. "The kitten and the old man."

Tawny eyes narrowed and Pumpkin mewed.

"Hey you're twelve so you are old by cat years." Rachel pointed out. She slipped out of her work cloths and put on black sweatpants and a light blue shirt. "It's cold in here..." walking into the hallway she bumped the heat up. "There we go, now to get things ready for tomorrow."

Espresso followed her into the kitchen mewing the whole way.

She giggled and turned the light on. "Okay, okay, I'll get you some cream." Rachel opened the fridge and took out the cream.

The brown cat stood up and put his paws on her leg while she poured some cream in a bowl. Espresso almost dove in when the bowl made it to the floor.

"Now don't move the bowl around too much," She warned. "I have something to bake." Putting the cream back, the auburn haired girl pulled out butter and eggs. She opened a cupboard and took out some white chocolate, and then setting those on the counter, she opened two containers of flour and sugar.

Rachel opened a smaller cupboard and moved a few things around. "Where in that vanilla?" She asked aloud.

Espresso had stopped indulging himself and now watched her intently. Pumpkin sat down by the dishwasher at watched the girl too.

"Vanilla.. vanilla.. vanilla… ah ha!" She pulled out the small bottle then glared. "Damn it I don't have enough." Sighing she looked at the other flavorings and pulled out the mint. "I guess this will have to do." She set it down by the other ingredients and pulled a large mixing bowl down from on top of the fridge. Then a whisk and a spoon were put on the counter along with a timer.

* * *

Ryo yawned as he closed the door to the house. It was still pretty chilly outside and he wrapped his scarf tighter before going down the stairs.

Rowen was there waiting for him. "Mornin'"

"Morning," Ryo took the helmet he was offered. By now he was used to Rowen's driving. "Sage staying home?"

"Yup, He said if there was anything food related on his desk that we could have it."

Ryo chuckled and sat on the back of the motorcycle. "I hope you and Kento don't have to work tonight."

The blue haired boy shook his head. "Nop, so looks like study group at Cye's place tonight."

"Then it will be my place next time." Ryo held on as Rowen started the motorcycle up and headed off.

This was their last month of school. Soon they'd graduate and it would be like another chapter came to a close in their lives. The only one out of the four of them who even had a plan was Kento; he had decided to go to college to get a better grasp at business. He had said that if he was really going to get his own restaurant one day that he felt a better look on business would help.

No one else knew what to do. Sage had been debating since January if he wanted the family dojo or one of his own. He had also been thinking about other options that could be out there. As it stood his grandfather and mother ran the dojo, both had said there was no rush for Sage to decide what he wanted to do.

Ryo didn't know if Rowen had figured out a plan yet or not. But he was sure that his tall friend would get one soon enough if he didn't have one. As for himself Ryo was really thinking about getting a job and saving up money for college. The big problem was that he hadn't decided a definite career choice. Maybe on Sunday he'd look around and see what he could find?

It was then that Ryo realized something that made him smirk. "You could have just said we were heading right to the apartment. Kimiko left really early this morning." He yelled over the noise.

Rowen chuckled and yelled back, "I didn't know that now did I?"

"Fair enough."

Rowen rounded the corner to avoid the well-known routs to their high school. The last thing he wanted was for the schoolgirls to see which direction he was heading. He would never hear the end of it if even one saw him. Valentine's Day never had seemed all that important to him so missing one day of school to get away from the pointless chocolates was just fine by him. Not many of them were that good anyways.

Driving through the parking lot gates the two boys saw Kento on the balcony waving at them. Rowen parked the motorcycle and took his helmet off and smoothed down his hair. "I don't think anyone saw us."

"Me either." Ryo handed the second helmet to Rowen. He got off the bike and asked, "So what time did you and Sage get here?"

Rowen held both helmets and said. "An hour ago, Cye had already left for work and I don't think Kento told him we are skipping today."

"I hope Cye doesn't get mad when he finds out." Ryo remembered how mad Cye was the last time they skipped at didn't warn him.

Rowen must have had that memory run through his mind too. "Well we can always say we tried to call him but no one answered."

"We could." Ryo agreed.

When they got to the top of the second floor stairs, Kento opened the door and let his friend's in. "Morning Ryo."

"Morning Kento."

Sage poured some tea into four cups. He looked up at Ryo and Rowen as they entered the front room. "Morning Ryo."

"Morning Sage, that smells really good."

Kento yawned. "It's that apple tea Rachel was talking about. She wasn't kidding either; it does have a sweet taste to it."

Sage handed Rowen and Ryo their cups. "I'm usually not one for sweet teas but this isn't bad."

"Wow we should get that on the record." Kento joked.

The blonde rolled his eye.

Rowen smirked and held his teacup. "Did you tell Cye we are here?"

"Nop," Kento went over to the entertainment center. "I've tried to call him three times but I get the busy signal. So it's not for the lack of trying."

"I just hope we can get a hold of him at some point." Ryo sat on the sofa. "I'd hate to have a repeat of last time." He took his first sip of the tea and his eyebrows rose. _That is good. I'll have to see if there are others like this that Rachel recommends_.

Kento looked through the video games. "We've got all day to hang out." He set a few aside that they all liked. "So," looking at his friends he asked, "what should we do first?"

"We really should study." Rowen said. "If we get that out of the way now then we will have more time top goof off."

"Good point." Sage nodded.

* * *

_Where are they?_ Rachel thought as she looked around the school grounds. School was over for the day and she hadn't seen any of her new friends. They were there yesterday so they couldn't all be sick at the same time.

She looked down at the small bag she held. _I wonder…_ Rachel went back inside and to the third floor and looked into one of the clubrooms.

"Rachel!" A girl smiled and waved at her.

Smiling the auburn haired girl went over to her. "Hi Satsuki."

"What's up?" Satsuki was a part of the drama club and she was currently looking through a prop box.

"I was wondering if you knew the way to that pottery shop Cye owns?"

Satsuki nodded. "Yeah I'll give you the directions in just a minute." She pulled out a Hello Kitty plush toy then threw it aside. "By the way did my brother ever show up?"

"No. But he said yesterday that he wouldn't be here." Rachel shrugged. "I can't say I blame him either. Danny said there was a big pile of chocolate bags and boxes on his desk."

Satsuki giggled. "I'm surprised my brother hasn't grown distaste for chocolates over the years." Pulling out a piece of foam she stood up. "This will do. Um… what was I going to do for you again?" Satsuki looked at Rachel.

She smiled. "Directions to Cye's shop."

"Oh yeah!" Satsuki went over to her bag and pulled out her day planner, paper, and a pen. "Would you tell Cye I said hello?"

"Of course I will." Rachel said. "Maybe he knows where the other four are?"

"Skipping like the toads they are."

Rachel giggled.

"Here you go." Satsuki handed Rachel the piece of paper. "If by chance you do see my brother tell him he's a toad."

"Um okay... Thanks for the directions."

"No problem." She smiled.

* * *

"Thank you and have a good day." Cye waved as the thirtieth customer of the day left. Once the customer was out the door Cye let out the sigh he had been holding in for the last half hour. It had been a very long day and he still had three hours to go.

Maybe he would close up early and go hang out with the guys. He got a call from Kento maybe an hour ago letting him know they were at the apartment. There had been enough at the house to feed them lunch, that was about as much as he knew. It would probably be a good idea to get some takeout for all five of them on his way home. Oh damn but where to get it from?

Ding ding went the bell on the door.

Cye whirled around. "Welcome. What can I-Rachel?" He blinked this was a surprise.

Rachel smiled behind her large scarf. "Hello Cye." She was visibly shivering.

"Hey there," He gave her a smile. "This is a really big surprise. To what do I owe this visit?"

The auburn haired girl walked up to the counter. "Kento, Ryo, and Rowen weren't at school today." She said, "So I was hoping you could give them and Sage something for me?"

"You made them chocolates?"

"Kinda." Rachel reached in a bag and set a square shaped object on the counter. It was neatly wrapped in white fabric and a small light blue ribbon tied on the top. "That one's for you."

Cye smiled with amusement. He hadn't expected anything like this since he graduated, and he certainly hadn't received a Valentine's Day gift so neatly wrapped from a person outside his family. "Thank you. May I open it?" He looked back up at her.

"Of course," Rachel pulled her scarf down under her chin. "It might be cold though."

"That's alright." Cye pulled the string of the ribbon off and the fabric fell to the sides of the treat inside. It was not what he had expected. "You made brownies."

She shifted and smiled sheepishly. "Well I used to make brownies all the time in Kyoto on Valentine's Day for my friends. And since you five are my new friends I thought you'd rather have brownies than the regular chocolates…"

"Thank you." Cye hadn't had a brownie in months. "I've never had a brownie before as a Valentines present."

"You're welcome."

He glanced at the clock then looked back at her. "You said you made some for the others?"

Rachel nodded. "I made enough last night for all my friends. Danny, Bue, Satsuki, Hana, and you five."

"Would you like to give them the treats yourself?"

Rachel gave him a blank look.

He chuckled. "I'm think about closing up in an half hour. I've about had it today with all the calls I've had for my work."

"So you did do all these." Rachel motioned to the shelves. She had heard he made the pottery but she was never too sure.

"Not all of them but about ninety percent of them." He shrugged. "If you feel up to keeping me company I'll give you a ride to my apartment. All the guys are there playing video games."

"Why does that not surprise me?" She looked at a wall. "Um... yeah I can follow you home."

Cye wrapped his brownie back up. "I'll show you the back so you can sit and hang out." He led her into the back where he had all his clay and equipment. Not to mention a few spare pots. "Before we get to the apartment tonight we'll need to stop and get some food. I don't think they'll be anything left in my kitchen to cook tonight."

"That's fine." Rachel said.

He pulled a seat out for her at the table that was substituting as his desk. "You can work on homework if you need to."

Rachel sat down, "Thanks but I'm all caught up in school." She gave him a smile. "I think I'll just read a little."

"Alright, if you need something let me know."

"I will."

* * *

Kento looked through the cupboards. "Damn." He looked at his three friends in the living room. "Well we officially ate all the food in the house."

"That will piss Cye off." Rowen sighed.

"I can call him." Kento picked the phone up and dialed the number to the shop.

Sage muted the TV so the sounds of the game wouldn't bother Kento. After that his character raced past Ryo's and rounded to the finish line.

"Aw damn it." Ryo glared at the screen. This was the tenth time Sage had beat him at this racing game.

"That's weird." Kento put the phone back on the receiver. "Cye must have closed up or something. He's not answering."

"Maybe he's helping a customer?" Ryo offered.

"That could be it." Kento nodded.

Rowen looked over the pile of games that Kento had acquired over the year. "So which do we play now?"

"Good question." Ryo leaned over to look at the games.

Sage opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off by the sound of the door being unlocked. "Sounds like Cye's home."

"Ha! I was right!"

"Oh shove it Kento."

"I'm home." Cye called. "And I've brought some guests."

The four boys looked at each other. _Guests_?

Suddenly Ryo found himself flat on the ground with something large, cold, and furry over him. "White Blaze!" Ryo hugged the large tiger. "I missed ya buddy."

White Blaze kept Ryo pinned down but returned the hug.

The other three laughed. They hadn't seen the tiger for a long time and this was just too funny. If a dog is supposed to be man's best friend then White Blaze was Ryo's brother.

"I think he lost some weight." Sage patted the tiger's head. "Good to see you."

White Blaze growled affectionately.

A familiar female voice said, "Wow you weren't kidding Cye."

Kento blinked. "Hi Rachel."

Sage and Rowen looked at her. "Hey." They said at the same time.

Rachel smiled, "Hello."

Cye hung his jacket up. "I invited her over for dinner so she could give you guys something."

Rowen arched an eyebrow and regarded his female friend. "It's not the chocolates from school is it?"

"I wouldn't torment you like that." Rachel said. "Besides all those chocolates are probably in the trash by now or the cleanup crews ate them."

"She has something better than chocolate." Cye picked up two large bags and headed into the kitchen. "White Blaze started chasing my vesper about half way here and scared the hell out of Rachel. But it looks like he's being the messenger kitty."

White Blaze finally let Ryo up and sat beside him on the floor. He had something tied around his neck and a small bag was attached to it.

Ryo chuckled. "So you're a frozen messenger tiger." He reached over and undid the knot that held the makeshift collar around the tiger's neck.

White Blaze shook his head happy to have the collar removed. He lied down beside the human body, welcoming the fire like warmth that came over his body.

Rowen watched Ryo. "What is it?"

Ryo opened the pouch that had been tied around the collar. "Well this was a belt." He said holding up the collar. "And we have a not that says 'Happy Valentine's Day I hope you like these chocolates. Love Kayura.'"

Kento reached over and snatched the card away from the former leader. "Kayura can cook?"

Sage looked up from his spot on the floor. "Would you like to sit down, Rachel?"

Rachel hadn't moved from the hallway. She looked down at the blonde. "I'd like to yes, but I don't want to step over anyone." She glanced over at White Blaze. "And he's in front of the sofa..."

_She's still scared of him,_ Sage realized. But then again this was a large white tiger in the room. Anyone who didn't know White Blaze like they did would be a little scared.

White Blaze stood up and looked at the new girl. He had only heard about her from Kayura and Mia, so far he wasn't sure what to make of her. Other than, she was slightly timid, the tiger would put a stop to her fear of him that was a fact.

Ryo saw that White Blaze was observing Rachel with a high interest. "Hey Rachel why don't you come and let him sniff you."

Her eyes widened a bit. "What?"

White Blaze stood up and stepped over Sage's legs before reaching Rachel. He walked behind her and nudged her.

"Whoa!" Rachel leapt over Sage and landed on the sofa.

Sage stood stark still and slowly turned his head to look at the girl. His eye was wide with surprise. "..."

After a few minutes the other people in the house burst out laughing.

White Blaze just stared at the girl. He had never seen an untrained girl jump like that. She must really be scared of him. Twitching his ears he came to the decision that he would defiantly find a way to stop her from being so scared.

Kento wiped his eyes. "Wow Rachel I had no idea you could move that fast."

Cye shook his head. On their way back after White Blaze had shown up on the way home she had been unusually quiet. He had no idea why on the vesper her grip became really tight until he saw the large feline running next to him.

"He's not going to eat you Rachel." Ryo smirked.

Rowen stood up and headed to the kitchen. "Do you want some help Cye?" He had expected Rachel to freak out when she finally met the white tiger. It was very amusing to him.

"Sure, thanks." Cye got the cookware out and Rowen began taking the food out of the bags.

Rachel sat in a corner of the sofa. "I know he won't hurt me. It's just really weird to be in the same room as a tiger... my little brain is having a hell of a time wrapping around that."

"That's understandable," Kento smiled. "You should have seen me when I first met him."

The former leader glanced at his friend. They still hadn't worked all the things out to tell people about meeting each other or White Blaze. Looked like now one of those things had to be settled.

"What did you do?" Rachel asked.

"I ran."

Sage chuckled. "Damn and I missed that."

"He didn't just run," Ryo imputed, "I don't think his feet touched the ground."

Kento thought. "I don't think they did."

"Oh was that the loud scream that I heard that day?" Cye teased from the kitchen.

Kento looked over. "You heard me on the other side of the country?"

"I heard something that sounded like a little man screaming."

He glared and turned around. "Gee I seem to have an itch on the back of my neck."

Rachel giggled.

Ryo looked at White Blaze and motioned for him to come over. The tiger walked over and lay down beside him, he began stroking the tiger's fur. "White Blaze is my friend." Ryo looked at Rachel. "It's just as weird to him for you to be here as it is for you to see him."

White Blaze put his head in Ryo's lap and closed his eyes.

Sage inhaled deeply. "Smells good, what are you two making?"

"Beef Teriyaki," They said in unison.

"I didn't know you could cook Rowen." Rachel watched him helping Cye.

"He doesn't often," Sage stood up and sat in a chair.

Rowen shook his head, "Usually it's take-out, I'm hardly ever home before seven."

"Cye is the cook of the group." Sage explained. "Though Kento gives him a good run for his money."

Rowen leaned over and plucked something out of the pocket of Cye's hoodie. "What's this?"

Cye looked over. "That is my Valentine's Day gift from Rachel."

Rachel smiled remembering her reason for being there, "I brought some for all of you if you want them." She opened her bag.

"Of course we do." Kento grinned. "If no one does want there's I'll take them."

Sage felt a tad uncomfortable now. The only gifts he gladly received on this holiday where from his mom and sisters. He wasn't even sure he would eat the chocolates Kayura had sent them. Of course he didn't want to be rude so he should accept Rachel's gift.

Rachel put down four square shaped objects on the table; each wrapped in fabric and tied off with ribbon. "They are not chocolates so you guys don't need to worry about that."

Cye took his gift back from Rowen and set it aside. He looked at the rest of the brownies Rachel had made and something donned on him. "All the ribbons are different colors." And he wasn't quite sure if he could conceal his unease about it either.

Sage had noticed this too. One ribbon was red; another was orange, then dark blue, and finally a green. _How ironic,_ He thought.

The girl shrugged, "Well I thought these where your favorite colors or something." She looked at the five boys before adding. "You all usually wear something with one of these colors somewhere. You are now."

_She's right_, Ryo looked at his warm colored bracelet his father had given him and then his friends. Kento was wearing his new orange shirt. Sage had on a dark green watch and Rowen wore his blue sweatband. Finally Cye had on his old blue hoodie.

"You're right." Kento chuckled. "I never noticed that."

Rachel shifted slightly in her seat.

Reaching over Ryo took the treat with the red ribbon. "Thanks Rachel. But if it's not chocolates what is it?"

"Open it."

"Alright," Ryo pulled the ribbon and the fabric came off. "It's a brownie."

Kento sat up. "Brownies?" He reached over and picked up the one with the orange ribbon.

She smiled. "I made them all the time in Kyoto for my friends there."

"Always for Valentine's Day?" Sage asked as he picked up his and Rowen's.

"No." Rachel shook her head. "The last time I made them was for a birthday party…" She trailed off.

"Dinner's ready." Cye said.

* * *

"Thank you for walking me home." Rachel looked up at him.

Ryo gave her a smile. "No problem. It's on my way home, and I don't think you want to go out when it's this dark alone." He walked between her and White Blaze. It was almost after ten at night and Ryo would have to take White Blaze back to Mia's tomorrow.

"So are you excited?"

"For..?"

Rachel giggled. "You only have two weeks left before you graduate. Aren't you excited about that?"

"My god is that all that's left?" In all honesty Ryo hadn't been keeping track of that. "I guess so. But I'm not sure what I'll do after I graduate."

"Still haven't thought about that huh?"

He shook his head.

"What about the other three?"

"Kento's always had a plan." Ryo said. "Sage is toying with a few ideas. As for Rowen I have no idea if he knows what he wants or not."

She nodded. "I see." Rachel looked up at the cloudy sky. "Danny said she was going to Kobe with her friend Sakura. They want to go in together on a flower shop."

"And here I thought she would be a match maker." He chuckled. "A flower shop huh?"

"That's what she said." The auburn haired girl sighed. "Bue and I will be all alone for our last year of school."

"Maybe we can visit you at lunch?" Ryo offered.

Rachel laughed. "I doubt that."

White Blaze looked up and over at the two humans talking. A few things had changed since he went to Mia's house.

Ryo shrugged. "You never know."

"This is true." Rachel glared as it started to snow. _Damn_.

Holding out his hand Ryo looked up at the falling snow. "How about that, It hasn't snowed very much this year." He noted.

Rachel shifted her shoulders. "And here I was hoping the snow would stop by now."

"It's only February, Rachel."

"I know but I don't like snow." She stopped at the corner as they waited for the light to change.

White Blaze twitched his ears as a few of the people moved away from him and the two teens. He was used to all this by now of course but that didn't mean it didn't bother him slightly.

Ryo hadn't noticed the crowd moving away. He was more interested in what Rachel had said. "Why do you hate snow?"

"Because it's cold," She said. "I don't like cold."

"I don't like the cold either." He walked with her after the light changed. "On a different note what are you going to do over your break?"

"Working mostly," Rachel shrugged. "That's the basis of my life right now. School, work, homework, eat and sleep."

"I'm thinking about getting a job." Ryo admitted. "Know anyplace that's hiring?" He looked at her.

"Just the teahouse," She giggled at a thought. "And I'm not sure you'd want to work there."

"Not with how busy you're always saying it is."

Rachel looked over at the tall apartment complex next to them. "Well this is me."

Ryo looked up and then down at her. "You want me to walk you up?"

"No I'll be okay from here. But thank you."

He shook his head. "Not a problem. It's the least I can do in return for your brownie."

"Yeah I'll have to make some more then." She stopped by the parking lot and looked at him. "I had hoped you guys would like them but I never would have guessed that Sage ate his first."

"That was surprising." Ryo agreed. "So I guess I'll see you on Monday."

"Yup," Rachel smiled. "Thanks again." She glanced down at White Blaze.

White Blaze took a step towards her. He was thought that she was no longer scared of him.

"Hey Ryo."

"Yeah?"

"Has White Blaze always had brown eyes?"

He smiled down at the tiger. "Yes. He's mutated all around."

Rachel smiled and then slowly held her hand out to White Blaze.

Ryo watched her. _There's nothing to be afraid of._

White Blaze rubbed his cheek against her hand and closed his eyes.

"Wow he's warm." Rachel stroked his head. "Night White Blaze." She held her hands together and looked up at Ryo. "Night."

"Night," Ryo turned and walked away with White Blaze following him.

Rachel turned around and walked across the parking lot.


	8. Have and Still

**Magic**

Chapter Eight: Have and Still

* * *

A soft chill still hung in the air, the chill of early spring. Winter had come and gone yet again, allowing for new things to grow. That was the true beauty of the two seasons. While snow covered the ground bathing the earth in a ghostly white, soon it would fade to a sea of new life. It was the simple truth of things.

Dark blue locks danced in a passing breeze as young eyes looked over a meadow tucked away in the mountains. Trees swayed in the light breeze while blades of fresh grass shined in the sunlight. It was a vacant field guarded by the thicket of the forest and wild animals. However it had not always been so. Decades ago… this was her home.

Kayura stood between two tall trees before making her way out into the meadow. Tears began flowing as emotions she wasn't aware she felt began surfacing. A strong sense over came her of being in the place she had called home so many years ago... a sense of loneliness. She covered her face and sat on the half frozen ground. One couldn't say memories from so long ago came as much as feelings. Love, warmth, joy, sadness, fear, hate, but mostly sorrow filled her to the breaking point.

The last of her clan, Compared to him and all he had done, Kayura felt so small and powerless. Only the latter felt truest. So far she had only been able to master one skill even with the help from the Warlords. It just wasn't enough.

Her hands dropped into her lap but the tears kept flowing. Kayura closed her eyes tightly and hung her head. Was this what they called a break down?

Someone put something warm around her and the girl looked up to see who it was.

Dark eyes looked down at the young girl. "You really shouldn't be out here alone, Kayura. It's still cold enough for you to get sick. Cale would have my ass chopped off if I allowed that."

"Sekhmet," Kayura looked at the Warlord of Venom. How did he find her? She hadn't told anyone where she was going.

The Warlord surveyed the area with what looked like mild interest. "Why would you come here of all places?"

"This..." She wiped her eyes. "This used to be my home."

Sekhmet glanced down at her again. "Your home?"

She nodded. "Yes. I lived here until Talpa took me away. I had thought that I'd forgotten where it was located…"

"Yet you've found it."

"…Not really."

He arched an eyebrow.

"I asked White Blaze if he knew where it was." She pulled the warm blanket around her. "He pointed it out on a map the day after Cye's birthday. I've just now been able to come here."

Sekhmet sat down beside her. "Why would you want to return here?" He asked. "There's no reason to be here."

"For me there is." Kayura looked up at the tops of the trees. "Since we calmed things down in the Dynasty I've had this feeling nagging at me that I should be here. That I should see what has become of this place and perhaps to pay my respects to my family." The tears began to flow again.

The Warlord was not sure what to do. He possessed no feelings like this towards his birthplace or his accursed family. A home and family like what so many talked about never had been something that he had the chance to experience. So here he was with a crying girl and he was completely clueless.

A few minutes passed by were the only sound that was herd was the trees blowing in the wind. Kayura broke the silence, "Sekhmet can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"Have you ever thought about finding someone and starting a family?"

Sekhmet looked at her bug-eyed, "What did you say?"

She had seen that reaction coming. "I'm sorry." Kayura looked at him.

"Kayura look at me. Do I strike you as the type of man who thinks about things like that? Because I am not." He kept his serpent like gaze fixed on her. "I am not good with people, I never have been. My appearance in due in part to that but also my heritage, so to answer your question, no I have never thought about that." Shaking his head he continued. "If you are looking for advice on love then I suggest you ask your land lady or Cale."

"Cale?" Kayura was surprised.

Sekhmet nodded. "He was engaged before Talpa lured him away."

"He was?"

"Yes. I only know that much about it though, he let it slip one night. He, Anubis, Dais, and I were drinking together the night before Talpa launched his first attack. Cale never has been able to hold his drink very well and he is a talker when he's drunk." A chuckle escaped him before he went on, "He let slip that he hadn't been that frivolous since he was told he was engaged."

"I see." She looked back at the treetops again.

"Kayura we should return to the Dynasty." Sekhmet said. "You should not dwell too much on your past or you won't see your future."

Kayura nodded. "You're right. But that's easier said than done." The girl was quiet for a time then asked, "Sekhmet have Cale and Dais returned to the Dynasty yet? I know they went out to play their games today but I have not heard when they are to return."

"I believe that Cale is back." Sekhmet thought. "I'm not sure if Dais has returned yet or not."

She stood up and looked at him. "We should go back then. I have something I want to talk to you three about… something happened to me yesterday that worries me."

* * *

Ryo walked out of the grocery store with the bags of food for the weekend. Kimiko was going to be gone at a weekend training class that the park was holding for a new special event. So Ryo was going to be left on his own for a while at his aunt's house. Normally when he would be alone he would invite his friends over to hang out, however this time Ryo just wanted to be left alone so he could go over a few things.

The former leader had graduated high school not four weeks ago, and still he had no idea what he really wanted to do with his life. Of course he had a few rough ideas but nothing too solid stuck out more than the others. Over the next few weeks he had told himself that he was going to choose something to do. Ryo wanted to decide on that before his father gave him choices on where to go with him.

That trip was still set for them both and Ryo wouldn't miss that for anything. His father was currently in Sweden and would return just in time for Mia's wedding. After that they were planning to go somewhere on a trip together. Ryo had never been able to go anywhere out of the country with his father before. And the last two times he was out of the country…

A heavy sigh escaped his body once that thought hit him. Those times where not the best he had ever had.

America had not been a pleasant time for anyone, _least_ of all Sage. The only good thing that had happened was they all got to meet Kento's favorite uncle, who was exactly as Kento said he was. Cye spent his time trying to keep Kento from flying off his handle. After Luna found out what was going on… Ouch there came another smack. Luna had tried to kill Rowen then realized what was going on and did all she could to help them.

Including begging Ryo to take her with them to L.A. That was a _stupid_ mistake. Ryo clenched his fists as he thought about Luna's death. There had been nothing they could have done and it ate him up that an innocent civilian had died on their watch. He brushed those memories from his mind only to be greeted by others.

After had been worse, Oh that had been such a hell that it was disgusting! Ryo had almost died, again, and they had lost White Blaze even if only for a moment. They had lost the armors and Black Blaze then too. No one really knew if they had been destroyed or not but at the same time it wasn't really like anyone but Ryo cared. The power of the Inferno Armor was intoxicating to say the least and it took a heavy toll on all five of them when used.

As for the discovery of the Black Inferno that was shocking. Had they known about such an armor they may have been able to come up with a plan in case it ever appeared. But that was yet another piece of information that had been lost them. Just one of many many more.

White vs. Black was a grueling battle when it finally happened. That was the one thing he had never ever wanted to use his armor for. A battle for pure power and sport, he hated how it felt that it came to that. But it more or less had.

Any way he looked at it Ryo was sure that the armors where gone. Now they were back to being just regular high school graduates facing their lives. The biggest question was the most obvious one: now what?

He took the keys out of his pocket and opened the door to his aunt's house. Stepping in Ryo turned the lights on and closed the door behind him. Walking across the living room he entered the kitchen and began putting the food away. New thoughts entering his mind this time, some of which he had been avoiding.

The first was a career choice. Ryo wanted to do something with animals but he just wasn't sure what. Kento once told him to open us an animal sanctuary and while that may be a good idea Ryo wasn't sure that was the path for him. He sure as hell didn't want to be a vet, having to see the abuse some animals went through was just wrong. The forest ranger job was still pulling strong though, that was something he knew he could do easily and enjoy himself.

Leaning back against the counter he closed the fridge with his foot. _I think I'd like to go back to the cabin and live there again_. Ryo thought. He smiled as memories of his childhood home came back. One day he would return and live out his life in that cabin. It was the perfect place for him; he was such a nature nut that even he found it funny. Living in the cabin and protecting the forest around it that sounded like an ideal choice for him.

Walking out of the kitchen Ryo picked up the remote to the TV and sat comfortably on the sofa. He turned the TV on and changed the channel to the news. An old habit that he was sure would never die.

_Looks like we're getting warm weather at last, _He smiled and looked at the calendar on the wall. A picture of Mt. Fuji stared back at him for the month of March. In two weeks a new school year would start and at the end of April was Mia's wedding. It felt so weird for him to not be stressing about school starting up again. But it was nice that he didn't have to think about another year in that kind of a school environment. After Mia's wedding he was going to look into college options and he still needed to find a job.

That was harder than he had thought it would be. A lot of places where hiring right now but they all wanted more experience or so they had said. _How am I supposed to get this experience if no one will hire me_? Ryo had tried everything he could think of from fast food to a cleaning service.

The only places in town he hadn't tried were where his friends worked. For the few days Ryo had looked after Cye's shop he had enjoyed himself and Cye even said he could put that down as a reference or past job. Working with Kento was not something he wanted to do because lately they had a bad habit of competing against each other over stupid things, things that would drive Mama up the wall. Kendo was not something Ryo knew well enough to offer Sage help in the dojo. As for books they weren't his thing in the same way they where Rowen's, so that was out. All that was left was the teashop where Rachel worked.

Rachel… Ryo hadn't seen her since Cye's birthday. He chuckled remembering how shocked she had been when he handed her the invitation from Cye. That was also when they all learned that she could knit. She knitted a hate for Cye that he had worn the rest of the night, saying how comfortable it was. It was going to be odd not seeing her everyday now but there was little he could do about that, unless he applied for work at the teahouse.

A young news caster stood downtown and said, "In other news today, the new city hall building in downtown Shinjuku is due to open…"

* * *

Sage walked out of his office in the dojo. The day was over and most of the students had gone home, those who hadn't where waiting for their families to pick them up. As he walked down the hall to the back door several of the students bowed to him and smiled. They had all learned very quickly to be respectful of their teachers and to each other.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys to Rowen's motorcycle. Rowen was in Osaka and would be returning tomorrow, he left his bike behind because he felt that he wouldn't need it in Osaka. Sage had asked if he might drive it from the apartment to the dojo, Rowen wasn't too keen on the idea but said that it was okay. It was also something that Sage was starting to enjoy greatly.

_If only grandfather would allow mom to get me one for my birthday._ He wished but knew that would never happen in a thousand years. Still it was nice to dream.

Sage uncovered his eye and put the dark blue helmet on his head. It was just easier for him to dive the bike with both eyes visible than with just the one. Also the darkness of the visor prevented anyone from seeing his eyes so that was one thing less to worry about. Now he just had to hope not many of the student's parents saw him that was all he needed, for them to know that he was willingly breaking the law. Come June though it wouldn't matter anymore and he could work on that license at long last.

Starting up the bike he got on drove down the driveway and made it onto the street before anyone saw him. Now he just had to get home and figure out what to make for dinner. There was plenty at the apartment but Sage hadn't cooked a meal for a while now and was lacking the experience. Noodles sounded good though and he was sure that would be easy to make.

It only took a few minutes to get to the apartment from the dojo and Sage was happy to see that the punk next door to them left their parking alone for once. He parked the bike, got off and took off the helmet. A chilly wind blew past him reminding him it was still March and there were still things to do before April came along. Mia's wedding was quickly approaching and Sage still hadn't gotten her or Jack something.

Maybe he would do that tomorrow either before or after work. Depending on how much sleep he got tonight and how his day would go. With Rowen gone Ray had been yowling half the night looking for him and it was driving Sage up the wall. It had almost come down to taking naps at work, which was not the best example to set for the students. Still there wasn't too much Sage could do about it not at that point anyways.

Sage walked up the stairs to the second level and across the leading to the door of the apartment. Taking out his keys he unlocked the door and went inside. As he closed the door Ray came racing out of Rowen's room, leaping onto the table she mewed.

"Did you sleep all day?" He walked across the living room and into his bedroom. "I'm tempted to take a nap."

"Mew"

Looking at the cat in the doorway he said, "Because you kept me up half the night. I miss Rowen too, Ray, but I need my sleep." Sage sat on the bed and took his watch off, setting it on the table beside his bed. God he needed a nap. "Ray I'm going to nap. Please try to stay quiet."

Sage lay on his bed; eyes closed but sleep never came. Sleep would have been a blessing, instead memories from the past floated into Sage's mind. Why he started thinking about the Armor of Halo now of all times was anyone's guess.

Maybe it was because it was almost April? Nearly four years have passed since he first met Ryo and the others. To think that it was only last summer when they lost their armors. Sage still didn't know if the armors had been destroyed or sent back to their birthplaces. Nor was he about to bring the topic up with any of his friends. They all had scars from those times in one form or another.

The times they fought against Talpa seemed like only a dream now. Did he regret anything he had done during that time? No of course not. Just one thing about his days wearing the armor that really bothered him was during his imprisonment in Los Angeles. His armor had never felt the same after killing innocent civilians. It just… it had felt so wrong to wear something that was supposed to defend the innocent after killing innocents.

After his friends came to save him and he donned his armor he could feel a difference. The armor did not feel was though it held such a powerful light anymore, it had been dimmed. Like a light bulb slowly dying out. That soft light had turned almost electric when they encountered the Black Inferno. And not in a good way.

No one really knew how they had come to acquire the White Inferno, when they did have it they only knew a little about it. Only Ryo had been able to wear it, it took five armors to create it, and, for better or worse, it was a great source of power. After it appeared things became harder than before. Every time they had call the Inferno Armor it took a heavy toll on their bodies, Ryo's especially. Inferno had also nearly killed Ryo against their last fight with Talpa.

When the Black Inferno appeared Sage thought, at first, maybe they had a new ally but that had quickly turned out to be very wrong. But it was still hard to say that Mukara himself had been the enemy. To Sage it was more the Black Inferno was more the enemy than the man who wore it. Mukara had more or less been possessed.

But why? The White Inferno had never possessed Ryo the way the Black Inferno possessed Mukara. At least not to his knowledge and he was sure Ryo would have told them all if it had. Once the two armors had destroyed each other all the other armors vanished. Well almost all of them, Sage was fairly certain that Kayura and the Warlords still had their armors. Not that he would ever ask them.

All that was gone now, No trace of the armors had been left behind. The only proof that they had ever existed was in the scars they carried in their souls and on their skin. And the memories the good ones as well as the bad. Those would always remain and even though some of them where painful Sage never wanted to forget them.

* * *

Cye put the last of his clean shirts in his closet and closed the door. Most of his day off had been spent cleaning up the apartment. Not that it really needed all the cleaning that he was doing, Kento kept the place clean when he wasn't around. Cye was just behind on a few of his chores around the house and picked today to get caught up with them.

Walking over to the dresser he turned the radio up slightly and turned to the basket on his bed. Pulling out his clean pants one by one, the potter began folding them and setting them in neat stacks on the bed. He groaned with longing when the radio host mentioned how it was a great day to go to the beach. If he wasn't so behind on house stuff Cye would have been down at the beach at dawn.

Cye hadn't been able to make it down to the beach since…Almost a year ago come summer. Wow had it already been that long? Being raised by the beach as a boy was a wonderful thing but now that he was grown, and living in Tokyo, he rarely made it out to the shore anymore. He made a note to get himself out there before Mia's wedding.

A smile formed on his face before he looked at the white envelope under his lamp. Giving gifts had never been a strong point of his but he felt that the couple would enjoy this. Getting those tickets had not been very easy but he knew a few strings to pull. He and his friends had known for a while that Mia's favorite musical was the Phantom of the Opera, it was only at Cye's birthday did he learn that Jack was a fan of it too. Cye only wished he could be a fly on the wall when they opened the envelope to see those two box tickets to the musical at Tokyo Opera House.

Turning around he opened the bottom dresser drawer and began putting his pants away. _Hmm I wonder what we should have for dinner later._ Cye thought. Kento wasn't due to return from his job at the family restaurant for another three hours and Cye preferred to be prepared for his roommate's arrival. _I'll at least have a sandwich ready then we can talk about dinner_.

"In the news today several contracts have been signed to construct five new apartment complexes in downtown Tokyo. Also the local aquarium-"

_Another group of apartment, does construction never end_? All of this constant construction of the big city reminded Cye why he was homesick for Hagi. Sure it was a decent sized place but there wasn't a new building going up every time he turned around. Smaller cities by the sea, that was more his style.

Oh to go back down to the beach and just spend the whole of the day floating in the sea. He knew he wouldn't be able to enjoy that very much anymore to his dismay. Which was sad to him since the majority of his good memories took place on or near the beach. There would always be those few that didn't. Then the fewer that…

The fewer that he would almost sooner forget. It was awful he knew, but he didn't really enjoy those times in his life as he let on he did. Cye was more than happy to be a normal young adult now with things that people his age had to worry about.

Things like would he be home in time for dinner? Jacket or sweater? How was his mom doing and when would he get that news of his sister pregnancy? …Would he find someone to love? Start a family? And what on earth should he make for dinner?

Yes those where the things he preferred to worry about. Not when was the next bastard bent on destroying the world going to show up? Was this nut after the Infer Armor? How many scars would the next fight bring them? How high where the odds that they'd make it through alive?

Was he happy that Torrent was gone? Yes and no. Cye was glad that the battles where over, there was no questioning that. No more fearing for the lives of his friends or himself. Gone now where the days of fighting the evil Dynasty, crazed spirits, and an armor none of them knew existed.

The fighting was over and done with. No more would be had.

* * *

"Bye mom! I'll see you tomorrow!" Kento called before closing the back door. Man what a day! It had been one of those days at work where anything that could go wrong, did. First all the food trucks where late due to the huge wreck on the freeway. Then a fight broke out just outside the restaurant. A critic came unannounced, on top of countless other things. And worst of all they all got a call saying Grandpa was sick again.

If he was old enough to drink Kento probably would finish off a bottle of sake when he got home. But Cye would probably stop him. After he got home and they had dinner he was going to take a nice long shower. That usually calmed him when other things couldn't. And it wasn't like he had Dynasty goons to beat on anymore and take some of his tension out on them.

Did that thought really just hit him?

Kento hadn't thought of those days in months. Despite how things had played out at times those had been some pretty good times for him. Not because of the battles but because of the time he got to spend with his best buds. Kento had always tried to see things on the brighter side after Dais pulled his stunts. Now the two of them where on light speaking terms, it was funny how things worked out.

The young Chinese man stopped and waited for the light to walk.

_Of course those times were also hard._ He told himself. Why am I thinking about all this now? It's been a long time since these thoughts had surfaced. Now that he thought about it, it was even weirder that these memories hadn't come rolling back. That bothered him.

The light changed and he walked across the street and down the sidewalk. Why was this bothering him? Kento had felt like he resolved all the issues he had with his armor after it vanished, he had never truly believed it was destroyed. One of his secrets was that he even took a trip up to the mountain to see if Hardrock was there. But it wasn't.

That made him nervous. Hardrock, at least, was not in its birthplace. Kento was willing to put down a good chunk of money on the feeling that the armors had not been destroyed in the Inferno battles. If they aren't at their birthplaces, with us, or destroyed where are they? Or with someone else?

_I need to think about something else or I'm going to get another headache._ Kento shook his head and walked to the train station. _Oh a gift for Mia's wedding! …I need to stop procrastinating_.

* * *

Rowen followed his father down the library hall in the Osaka Research Center Laboratory. "So your coworker found a play script in Shinjuku and you think I might be interested in it because…?"

"The play talks about armors." His father explained. "Since you developed an interest in Samurai Armor over the last few years I thought you'd enjoy reading it." Genichirou stopped and pulled down a very tattered book. "I have read it and it was very well written. We have dated it back to the Edo Period." He handed it to Rowen.

Rowen looked at the title and felt his heart skip several beats. _The Five Armored Warriors_? A very large flag went up in his mind.

"Pity this story hasn't made it to today's theaters. People would eat it up and beg for more." He took his glasses off and cleaned them. "The play write was only able to give that work one performance. From what my coworkers said the man was killed shortly after. The Dymio of the time felt the play was blasphemous and then the play write was found to be Christian."

"I see." Rowen opened the book and began reading the first scene.

"Remember to lock the door when you are done." Genichirou said. He put his glasses back on and left the library. One thing he had learned was to leave his son alone when it was a subject of great interest.

Night had fallen by the time Rowen finished the play. He felt sick. Had they all suffered through that hell for nothing? What was going on here?! Looking down at what looked like blueprints Rowen realized something and slammed the book shut. _I **have** to tell Ryo and the others_.


	9. Message

**Magic**

Chapter Nine: Message

_I'll show you mine if you show me yours first  
Let's compare scars, I'll tell you who's is worse  
Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words_

-Rise Against, Swing Life Away.

* * *

Ryo walked back into the house and opened the package that was addressed to him.

"What the hell?" Ryo wasn't sure what surprised him most, the package from Rowen or the letter that came with it. This was bad. Rowen never did anything like this before and if he was going to check this out, why hadn't he called?

Ryo looked from the quickly written letter to the date on the package. It had been delivered overnight. Looking back at the play script's title gave him a burning and sinking feeling at the same time. This couldn't be what it looked like. Could it?

* * *

Cye sat up in his bed. Nightmare, dream, premonition, or whatever you'd call it, he was visibly disturbed. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down while trying to get his heart out of his stomach. Once he felt a little calmer he tried to recall exactly what had happened.

Rowen was in trouble.

That's what it was when Cye boiled down to it. A friend was in danger! How he knew this was beyond him at the moment and for some reason he didn't care to know how. The familiar sting of dread began tugging at Cye, something that he had not felt to this point for a long time.

He glanced at the clock on his wall; it was eight-forty in the morning. Kento was probably still asleep unless he had the same… whatever it was.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Cye shot out of bed and ran to the phone. Glancing in Kento's room as he passed he saw his roommate was still sleeping. He reached the kitchen and picked the phone up, "Hello?"

"_Cye it's Ryo_."

"Ryo?" Cye's heart dropped back to the very pit of his stomach. "What's wrong? You never make calls this early."

"_You don't sound very happy either_." Ryo let out a long sigh. "_Are you and Kento busy tonight_?"

"No. He has the day off and I'm taking the weekend off from the shop."

"_Can you two please meet me at the café tonight that's near my aunt's place? It's important_."

_Not good_. He knew this tone of Ryo's voice. "We will be there. Is there a time you want us there?"

"_Around seven, I still need to call Sage and get him over there too_."

"Doesn't Rowen get back today?" Cye asked. "You should call him an-"

"_Cye this _is_ about Rowen. He won't be back today_."

* * *

Someone was staring at him, Sage could feel it and it was annoying. All the students knew that he hated to be bothered when he was meditating. He kept himself calm and opened his eyes. It wasn't one of the students. It was his friend Itzumi, who owned the dojo.

Itzumi cringed slightly. "Sorry Sage, I know you don't like being bothered during meditation. However, there is a Ryo Sanada on the phone for you. He says it's about Rowen."

Sage stood up. "Thanks Itzumi." He had a feeling he would hear from Ryo today but not about Rowen. That was weird.

He walked back into the dojo and to the front desk. Picked up the phone and "Morning Ryo."

"_Morning Sage_," Ryo sounded like he was trying his hardest to keep calm. "_Have you heard from Rowen since the day before yesterday_?"

"No I haven't." Sage admitted. "I did try to call him last night but he never answered. What's happened?"

"_I can't really explain it over the phone. Would you meet me tonight at the café out this way? I have to show you, Cye, and Kento something very important that Rowen sent me_."

Sage was really starting to worry now. "I will be there. What time do you want us there?"

"_Around seven, I've already called Cye and Kento_."

"Ryo." Sage paused and asked, "How serious is this?"

"_Very_."

* * *

Ryo hung up the phone and closed his eyes tightly. This was going to be rough. He knew his friends still had raw wounds from the things that had happened to then when they had their armors. Those would be reopened tonight without a doubt. Nevertheless, it wasn't hard to figure out why Rowen had sent the script to him.

Last night it almost felt like Rowen was in town and then he vanished. While Ryo was no stranger to using these left over senses Wildfire had given him, using them took a lot out of him. Ryo could feel where his friends were sometimes and last night had been no exception. He had a strong feeling that Rowen was around somewhere and in possible danger. He had tried to use his senses to find Rowen but as soon as he latched onto him, Rowen was gone.

Slamming his fist onto the counter top, Ryo almost felt helpless, "Shit."

* * *

"Whoa back up." Kento looked at his roommate. "Ryo called you saying that Rowen wasn't coming back to Tokyo today. He wants us to meet him at the café later tonight and told you that it was urgent?"

"Yes." Cye said. He ran his hand through his hair. "Kento I've got a really bad feeling about this."

The young Chinese man sat across the table from his friend. "Me too Cye. Me too."

* * *

Ryo set the play script down; his mind was a mess with thoughts and emotions. That play was so similar to what they went through that it scared him. Even down to the minutest detail it told of the things they had gone through. Not just their battles against Talpa but even Sarenbou, SaberStryk, Sun Devil, and General Daala. Hell the ordeal of getting the Jewel of Life was in there.

How someone from so long ago know what would happen? Was it someone who had been a part of the Ancient Clan at one point? Ryo didn't like it and he knew the guys would freak out.

Cye walked out of the café first, his head was spinning. Everything they had done during those battles was written down years ago as a play? Outrageous! Had they suffered for nothing? All those days of fighting, healing, saving, and his imprisonment… what for?!

Would anything different have happened if they had read that play long before they even knew of their armors? Probably not, they just would have known the outcomes of the battles and how to attack the enemies. In the sad truth of thing that play may have helped them gain a large advantage against Talpa in those battles. Battles that seemed pointless now.

The world was at a state of peace. Why couldn't he and his friends be left alone? Cye was tired of fighting. Battles were ugly and wars were uglier, he had seen first had at the age of fifteen just how ugly they really could be. He was done fighting.

* * *

Kento looked over the letter Rowen had sent Ryo. _He must have been in a hurry when he wrote it_. The young Chinese man said to himself. Normally Rowen had the neat handwriting of the group but this letter would have made anyone think otherwise.

He looked over at Sage and Ryo who were talking about contacting Rowen's father. Kento saw a hole in that plan. The chances were slim that Mr. Hashiba would know where his son was. No this was not good, that was obvious enough.

At first he didn't see a reason to worry. It was a play written back in the Edo Period that had either never been performed or only performed once. However with no contact from Rowen in the last twenty-four hours on any of this they had to worry. Last time they thought nothing of a late return Sage was captured.

Either Rowen was being an ass or something had him.

* * *

Sage sighed, clearly frustrated. "I'll call his father's place tonight but I don't think he'd know anymore than we do."

Ryo nodded. "I'll stop by the bookstore and see if anyone there knows anything."

"Alright," Sage looked down. "Ryo can I take that home? I'd like to read this for myself."

"Go ahead."

Sage picked the play up and looked over the cover. Nothing too special, just leather bound with writing. But something about the play script felt strange. Almost like it was supposed to be found… and yet a sense of foreboding took hold of him.

* * *

Kento closed the door to the apartment and looked around. Cye wasn't home yet and while he wasn't too surprised he was worried. Half way home he felt like something was rushing past him like the way water shoots out of the shower. It was weird to say the least but now as he looked at the few plants they had, Kento swore he could see them moving.

Almost like they were dancing in fact, dances that he had seen enacted in plays from China that depicted battles and great suffrage. Now of course the hero's would always win those battles. Kento didn't even need to ask why they won, he had been in similar shoes before.

_Something is not right_. He glared at the wall. _Okay,_ _if this is someone after us again for whatever reason I'm ready. If this is a sick joke I'm going to pound the punks responsible_!

Sage sat on his bed and turned the lamp light on. It had been a long day and things didn't look like they'd get better any time soon.

He had called Itzumi an hour ago to let him know that something had come up and he might not be in for a few days. Luckily for him Itzumi was a patient and understanding guy, he told Sage that it was okay. Sage felt fortunate to know Itzumi.

Still there was another matter to attend to. Reaching over to the table Sage picked up the script and leaned back in bed. _Let's see just how accurate you are_.

* * *

"What do you mean Cye didn't come home last night?" Ryo was past worry now and close to dancing with panic.

"_Just what I said_," Kento sighed. "_I've looked everywhere. The shop, the aquarium, the beach, I called his mom and sister, they haven't heard from him since last week. I've asked his customers, other friends of his, I saw Rachel today and even asked her. No one has seen him_."

Ryo cursed loudly. "Have you told Sage?"

"_I'm going to call him later. I don't have the time to talk to both of you on my lunch break_." He whispered, "_And I'm not about to give my family a heart attack and tell them what's been going on_."

"I know that feeling," The former leader hit a pillow on the sofa. "I'll call Mia's and see if Kayura is home. Maybe she and the warlords know something."

"_If she does know something, tell her to get down here and share it_." Kento hung up.

Ryo set the phone back on the receiver. "First Rowen and now Cye…"

* * *

"I think it's safe to say we have an enemy again." Sage informed Kento. "But I agree with you and Ryo that we shouldn't. We don't have our armors anymore so there's no reason for anyone to come after us."

Kento counted push-ups in his head, "So who ever this is wants us even though we don't have the armors anymore."

"Looks that way," Sage turned a page of the play script. "If they wanted the armors then they would have sensed we don't have them and then both our friends wouldn't be missing."

"What would they want with us?"

Sage paused for a moment then looked down at his friend. "Kento can you still use any powers from Hardrock?"

Kento stopped. He sat down and looked up at his blonde friend. "A few yeah..."

"When did you realize yours?"

"The first week of January, you?"

"Over Christmas," He sighed. "Rowen has some left over too. He never told me but I've seen it off and on in the apartment."

"If the three of us have powers left over then Ryo and Cye must too. Cye would never say it and I don't think Ryo would… simply for our sakes."

Sage agreed. "Ryo wouldn't say anything because we never do."

"Cye wouldn't because of how he feels about fighting." Kento shrugged. "Both you and Cye got pretty burned by the armors so I'm not surprised that neither of you would say anything."

Sage closed his eyes.

* * *

Ryo hung the pay phone up and clenched his fists. Mia was no help to him right now and everyone was gone. He couldn't just stand there and do nothing but he could just waltz right up there and fight either. This was not the kind of position Ryo liked to be in.

Everyone was gone.

Why? Why the hell was this happening? They had nothing to offer and what little they might have would be of no use to anyone. Everything was falling to pieces…

A sound caught his attention.

Ryo looked across the street to see some people he knew. Not by name but he used to go to school with them. One was even in his class and another he recognized as being a friend of Bue. It looked like they were all out on a group date or something. Ryo found it strange how he longed to be with them or experience such a thing.

Shaking his head Ryo walked down the sidewalk but continued to observe those around him. It was late by all accounts but there were still children running around. Young couple holding hands and old couples talking among themselves. A man in a business suite walked past him talking on one of those new cellular phones. But one sight really caught his attention.

A young married couple had passed him. The woman was a few months along and her husband carried a young child.

That made something hit him. Something he had forgotten and he needed to remember.

_We suffer so others don't have to_. Ryo tightened his fists and ran off.


	10. The Sea of Trees

**Magic**

Chapter Ten: The Sea of Trees

* * *

A heavy mist gripped the trees as it flowed across the thicket. Clouds parted and small specks of moonlight penetrated the prehistoric branches, revealing the rocky ground covered in moss. Roots from the old trees rose out of the ground, clamming it as its own, only to be subject to the green moss. A light breeze moved between the trees making a sound from deep within the forest.

The breeze here never sang. It screamed.

The breeze screamed for what had been done there. Voices from old ages and present times carried themselves on the wind. With those voices came the scent of death.

As the breeze passed a tree something dangled from a rope and swayed in the breeze.

"Ah look at that." A disembodied voice said. "Sometimes I wonder why law enforcement bother putting up those signs."

A raspy voice answered. "Can you blame them? They hope those signs will help. I have seen a few turn back. Heh well a few."

"Can they truly blame us?" Came a younger voice. "It's so lovely here why not use it? If we did they'd turn it into apartments."

"Not for long they wouldn't." All three began laughing.

Clouds covered the moon and three figures began to glow with their own light.

One was a middle-aged man from the early Kamakura Period. His Kimikoono was tattered and strange marks shown on his wrists and neck. His face was sunken in but his eyes gleamed. "It can't be helped. Death may not solve all problems but it doesn't give you anymore."

A child with a wound to the head laughed. "Yeah and all the pain goes away." The young boy looked to be from the Meiji time. "Without our bodies we can't be harmed." He was not so sunken in as the other two but he was not a pretty sight.

The last chuckled deep from his chest. "Yes. We must all embrace death at one point." His face was nearly all bone. He was an old man with only a few teeth remaining. In his raspy voice he said, "But unless we see what we did as foolish we are stuck here."

"At least we can greet new friends." The child sang.

"Or visitors." A bony hand pointed to a far off path. "She is not from our forest."

* * *

She floated quickly through the Sea of Trees. Time was of the essence here and there was not much time to be had. He had to be found and fast before he moved deeper into the forest.

This place was rugged and foreign to her. It was almost like timed had stopped here just long enough for the beauty of this forest to be admired. Only to be ruined again when the sound of a neck breaking pierced the trees.

Evidence of the crimes committed here could be seen everywhere with her eyes. But the trees had suffered the most. Old trees and young trees had the marks left on their branches from the ropes of the victims of sorrow.

Did no one understand that in the grand scheme of things it rarely mattered why you took your own life? Shame, honor, love, failures, defeat, pain, fear… none of them mattered. That was not why she was here. No. She had come to this dark forest of death for another reason. A far more important and honorable reason, Not that many would call finding a shamed warrior an honorable cause.

"Come on where are you?" She whispered softly to herself.

The moonlight shown through the branches again, unlike the others here she did not vanish but the moonlight illuminated her. Almost like it gave her more power.

She ran faster.

Where was he? He was here. There was nowhere else. No one else could do this. Nor would they.

_Please show yourself to me_! She demanded.

"You look lost." A smooth voice said.

She stopped. No one had spoken to her since she entered the forest. "If I were to say I see a treasure in a marked chest..."

"I'd answer you seek a tool of war." The moonlight faded and a figure leaned against a tree. A rope dangled from his neck and his eyes gleamed as she did. "What do you want here?"

"I came looking for you, Keitaro." The female answered. "I have a job for you."

"I pass." He answered. "I'd rather romaine in this forest of death than go out chasing young boys."

"I'll ensure your path out of here if you do."

"Tempting. But you have no power to do that."

"Then what will it take?" She gave him a pleading look. "You are all that's left."

Keitaro floated over to her until he was inches from her. "Your daughter gave them the armors. Have her help them."

"Suzunagi found peace. By spiritual law she cannot help them." There was a hint of regret in the ladies voice.

"How is any of this my problem?"

"It's not. But… Haytie is returning."

"Haytie?" Now this woman had his undivided attention. "Why? He reaped Japan of its strong magic's centuries ago."

"And now five sets of magic are being restored. Keitaro they need guidance worse now than ever before. One of them is even descended from you! Be a good ancestor and guide him."

Keitaro closed his eyes and folded his arms over his chest.

Suzunagi's mother grabbed the sleeve of his Kimikoono refusing to let him try to escape. She never took her eyes off him as she patiently waited for his reply.

Screams filled the air as a rush of a harsh wind blew past them. It sent chills down the ladies spirit body. "Such cries…" It broke her heart.

"Very well."

She snapped her head to him. "You'll help them?"

"On my own terms yes," Keitaro looked down at her. "I'm hardly doing this because I want to. So if I am to be pushed into this I will not let them see me as a good guy."

"Keitaro…"

"Leave." He stated. Keitaro turned and faded into a tree.

"Thank you. Keitaro." The mother faded into a sparkling mist and floated away.

Keitaro appeared on the branch of the tree. Gazing around the forest he saw the sights he had always seen. Heard things he had always heard. Felt things he had always felt. Now it was time to leave this beautiful forest of death that had been his home since his own death.

Even in death he was not free.


	11. Heiligenschein

**Magic**

Chapter Eleven: Heiligenschein

* * *

Sage felt sore in places he forgot could get sore, but that's what happens when you don't have an evil force bent on taking over the mortal real every ten minutes. Some muscles lost their strength and stamina faded. To him it was a small price to pay even though it annoyed him. At least he could ignore it or find a way to cope, which was a lot more than Rowen could say.

Ever since they had returned from their imprisonment training had started up again. Suzunagi had woken them from their dream of normal lives and shoved them back into what, for them, was a harsh reality. Most of them had tried to ignore the powers they had left over from their armors, that was no longer the case. Now they had new armors that had been crafted to create something that no longer existed and as far as Sage could tell these armors had more power.

They trained in the woods at Mia's mansion to keep as low of a profile as they possibly could. Mia had given them full permission to use the grounds and mansion for anything they needed while she was gone. Jack had taken Mia to Costa Rica for a two-month long honeymoon, how he could afford that was beyond Sage.

During training Sage had noticed spikes in power from his friends and himself. The problem with that was learning what these new armors could do. After Kento caused a huge rockslide Ryo had made it _very_ clear that they'd be using the subarmor for a while. Back to basics hadn't been such a bad idea and it felt like they almost knew just what they could do in their subarmor alone.

It had surprised Sage to see the differences between these armors he had worn. Both commanded the light, fit well to his form, moved smoothly, weighed little as far as armor went, and boosted him physically. However this new armor held no former evil intent that he could sense which was strange since it was made by a soul consumed by hatred. No virtue was needed to keep this armor from taking lives or turning on him. The most unnerving this about the Halo Armor now was that he could not sense it.

Sage knew the armor was with him at all times. Hiding from the eyes of onlookers and demons, he just didn't know where. When he was with his friends he could clearly feel the presents of their armor. Why couldn't he feel his own? This strange lack of sense made him feel like he was missing something. Almost like he was naked in fact.

The Armor of Halo was anew.

"Sage-Sensei?"

Blinking Sage looked at the door to his office. One of his younger students was looking at him just outside the open door. "Yes Haji?"

Haji smiled to show his missing tooth. "Everyone is here now."

Sage nodded and stood up. "Let's go get started then."

"Yes sir!" Haji gave a salute and marched down the hall.

Shaking his head Sage followed his student.

* * *

Keitaro stood on the rooftop to the business building across from the dojo. He could feel the souls of the living all around him. One stood out brightly among them, the soul of one who wore armor.

Looking at the dojo below, Keitaro could see through the materials which had been used to create it. Those inside were illuminated by the glow of their souls, like an aura around them. Such was one of Keitaro's many gifts; he could see the souls of the living.

"There you are." He said to himself.

In a large room filled with children he estimated to be between seven and eleven he found who he was looking for. The young man teaching this class couldn't be more than seventeen but he was highly skilled. His soul was glowing brightly with great power.

If he had to guess this would be the one who wore the Armor of Halo as it was called now. It was called Korin when he was living.

_Times changed and so much names_. He mused. "Now then let us see just what you know how to do, he who wears Halo."

* * *

Sage watched his students very carefully. They were doing very well as far as he could see. Very disciplined and dedicated to what he was teaching them. Surprising since it was his last class of the day on the weekend. Up until now all his classes had been almost impossible to teach.

"You're doing well. To what do I owe the good behavior for?"

One of the girls answered, "Itzumi-sensei said if we are super good for you that he'd buy us all ice cream."

_Itzumi I owe you_. Sage chuckled. "Well then our lesions are done for the day. Go wait for Itzumi."

"Thank you Sensei." The children said simultaneously.

"You're welcome." Sage gave them a smile and watched them return to the back to take off their equipment. _It's amazing what a kid will do for a treat_.

"Sage-Sensei can you help me?" One of the younger boys asked. "Hagi tied my dōtoo tight."

"Sure Daisuke." Sage knelt down and began untying the rather impressive knot that Hagi managed to tie. "I'll have to talk to Hagi about these knots."

Daisuke smiled, showing a missing tooth. "Thanks Sage-Sensei."

Sage nodded. "You're welcome." He undid the knot. "There you go Daisuke go get dressed."

"Yes sensei." Daisuke held his dō and went back into the dressing room.

_And the day's over_. The warrior of light stood up and walked out of the room. Well it was almost over Sage still had to call his grandfather. It was the first week of May and by tradition he was bound to call his family. But he had other business other than to wish them a happy Golden Week. It was time he told his grandfather about his armor.

Yoshi would have all the students out with him for ice cream so it was the perfect opportunity. Though Sage would have preferred to give such information face to face at the moment he didn't have the time or the money to go to Sendai. A phone call would have to work for now. He would go back to Sendai for his eighteenth birthday and then he would show his grandfather whatever it was that he needed to.

Reaching his office he walked inside and shut the door. Everyone knew not to bother him or Yoshi if their doors where shut. Complete privacy was needed right now with absolutely no acceptations.

Sage sat down and picked up the phone. Better get this over with because chances of it being easy where little to none. It wasn't that he was scared of what grandfather's reaction would be. No, what he was worried about was how his immediate family would be affected. Satsuki didn't even know he had armor again.

"_Date residence_." A soft voice said.

Sage smiled. "Evening Grandmother."

"_Sage! It's so wonderful to hear from you dearry. How are you_?" Grandmother Date was very close to Sage. She was one of the sweetest ladies you could ever meet.

"I'm doing well. My friends say hello, did Satsuki make it back okay?"

"_Oh she's fine. Running around with your cousins, tell your friends I return the hello_."

"I will do that, grandmother." Sage's smile faded. "May I talk to grandfather please?"

"_Yes I'll go get him_."

He heard her set the phone down and her footsteps as she walked away. That was not all though. Sage smiled when he heard the voices of his cousins playing in the courtyard with Satsuki. He missed them.

More footsteps. "_Sage_?"

"Evening Grandfather." Sage said.

"_It is very good to hear from you grandson_." Grandfather sounded happy but only Sage had learned how to tell. And he learned that trick from his mother. "_How is life treating you in Tokyo_?"

"It has been fair." Sage answered. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Grandfather there is something I need to tell you. If you are not sitting down would you please do so? This is a long story."

"_I am now sitting down. Tell me what's wrong_."

Sage told him everything that happened. About the playscrypt, being captured, the new armor. All of it. "I would have preferred to tell you this face to face but I simply have not had the time."

"_I understand_." Grandfather let out a sigh that he must have been holding in for some time. "_A new armor that is something, And you are alright_?"

Sage paused before answering. "As alright as I can be."

"_Please keep me informed grandson. I shall let your mother and father knows_."

"Thank you. I will let you know as often as I can."

"_Good. When you come back for your birthday I would like to see it_."

"Of course."

The lights flickered.

Sage looked up. _That was weird_. "Grandfather I need to go."

"As must I, Take care of yourself Sage."

"I will." Sage hung up the phone and looked at the clock. He had been on the phone for over an hour. "Time to pack up and head home," He said to himself. Rowen wouldn't be home for another two hours, again. Tomorrow it was off to Mia's place for another round of training and this time Kayura had insisted upon joining them.

Sage reached for the door and stopped. Something was wrong. He opened the door and found it was pitch black on the other side. A sinking feeling crept its way into his stomach as he looked into the black abyss. This was wrong.

It was far from sunset and normally during this time of day there was still light in the dojo. Sunlight still shown in Sage's office for crying out loud, But outside his office into the dojo it was pitch black. Sage doubted very much that even Cale could make things this dark. This unnaturally dark.

Oh damn.

Sage stepped out into the hallway glancing right then left. He couldn't see a thing not even his own shadow from the light in his office. And it was way too quiet. Every alarm bell in his head went off at once. Either Cale was playing a cruel joke or he was under attack by something.

_Shit_. Sage cursed loudly to himself. Last time he was attacked by himself was not the best of memories and it had coast them. Not only was he kidnapped by some insane demon but his armor was used to kill innocent humans. They almost exposed themselves to the public and they lost the life of a girl who was trying to help them.

Against his better judgment he turned to the left and took two steps. Not even his footsteps made a sound. This was quickly becoming creepy.

_I better call someone_. Sage did not feel comfortable doing something like this on his own. Ryo was closest to him so he would call the leader. He turned to go to the office only to find it was not there to be seen. Glaring he took two steps back and turned to what would be his office. Reaching a hand out he felt the wall and slid it along until he could feel the side of the door.

Sage had left the door open but now it was closed. He could even feel the door handle and the handle wouldn't move when he tried to turn it. Locked out. Whoever was doing this was making sure that he could not contact anyone nor be near the light. They had taken away any advantage Sage had… Almost

In the blink of an eye Sage had donned his subarmor under his cloths. Turning back to his left and began walking slowly down the hallway. Fortunately for him, he had been working here long enough that he knew the layout of the dojo pretty well. So there should be nothing that would surprise him.

His armor might be for light but Sage was by no means scared of the dark. It was just annoying not to see where he was going. Not to mention that he couldn't hear a thing right now either. Not only did he feel blind but deft too. This was unnerving to the enth degree.

Bing.

Sage froze. What was that?

Bing.

That sounded like a bell.

Bing.

That was a bell!

Sage looked around trying to determine where the sound was coming from. He turned left and right, even looked behind him, but there was no way to really tell where the bell was. Turning back to the front Sage saw a faint hint of light. A trap by all means.

He turned around to walk back but was blocked. Now he could see clearly and what he saw was a wall right smack in front of him.

"Are you just going to leave them hanging?" A voice echoed off the walls. Something about it pierced Sage to the core.

"Who are you?" His eyes glared into the darkness as he turned to look back.

"Who?" The voice repeated. Amusement rang out as it spoke, "A better question would be what? It's pointless to ask a question of who to something you can't see."

He gripped his hands into fists.

Chuckling a response came, "Do I frustrate you Sage of Halo?"

The Alarm bells in Sage's head stopped ringing. Now they were screaming. "How do you know me?"

"I would imagine that would be obvious. Your armor bears the colors of Halo. It may not be the original but that makes no difference to me. Rest assured though I am not seeking your armor for the means to obtain the Inferno Armor. I'm not that stupid."

"Is this the part where I'm supposed to give you praise?"

"That I leave up to you. But to my original question, are you going to leave them hanging?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Follow the light and I shall show you."

"Let you catch me in your trap you mean."

Laughter, "Now really what could I possibly gain from _that_? You're no good to anyone captured or dead!"

Sage didn't make a sound. He slowly walked to the small hint of light and was struck by a thought, "If you are trying to gather us to create the Inferno-"

"I'm _not_ after the Inferno." The voice was much clearer now. "I have no use for that cursed piece of _destruction_. Taking over or blowing up the world is not on my agenda either."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Sage asked as he reached what he was sure was a door.

The door slid open quickly of its own accord. There were three candles in the room that flickered at the rush of new air. A figure stood to the far right dressed in old robes. His face was illuminated by the candlight revealing the small smile on his face. "So this is what you look like, Sage of Halo."

Sage didn't understand. "You knew my name but not what I look like?"

"As with any warrior your reputation precedes you. Only stories are told and I do not usually believe what they say about looks." He moved from the light. "But I get off track. I have come here to see just how much control you really have over your new armor."

Sage stood still. Why would this person want to these his abilities? Was he just another lackie like the Warlords had been? Could he even be trusted? This did not sit right with the warrior of light.

Keitaro smirked. "I wish to challenge you to a sword fight."

"Not interested."

"I thought you'd say as much." With a snap of his figures balls of fire floated in the air filling the whole room with light.

What Sage saw next shook him .

All of the younger students from the dojo stood near the back of the room… with hanged man nooses around their necks. Each child was tied up so they could not move, heads hanging to the sides or down, they were unconscious. The ropes around their necks were loose and hung down from the ceiling.

"Are you interested now?"

Anger boiled from somewhere inside. "You are sick!"

"So I have been told." Keitaro studied the man before him. He had clearly gotten under his skin and hit a large nerve. Good, a warrior of light that had morals. "Here is how it will be, Sage." He turned and looked at the children. "I win and they die. You give up your armor and return to a normal life. If you win I shall let the children live." Keitaro looked back at him, "I'll even make it so they have no memory of this."

"I have no choice."

"Yes you do."

"Not if I want them to live."

"Good." Keitaro held out his hand and a double edge sword appeared in his hand. "I am Keitaro."

Sage's subarmor glowed and the cloths that covered it vanished. "I am Sage Date. I will defeat you and free those children."

"For the sake of your honor I sure hope so."

"What would you know about that?" Sage demanded. The sword of Halo appeared in his hand and he held it tightly. "You use innocent and defenseless children to get my attention."

"Defenseless? My that's a nice way to talk about your students." Keitaro took a fighting position. "The first to knock the sword out of the other's hand wins."

Halo stood in a similar stance. He had to win this fight and when he did he would drill questions out of Keitaro. A simple fight for swordsmanship was too simple of a task to go to such an extreme.

A few moments of complete silence passed by, Then they ran at each other at the same time.

Halo's sword clashed with Keitaro's so hard the sparks flew. The sound of the metals colliding echoed off the walls and rang in Sage's ears. They pushed off each other's sword and Keitaro swung his at Sage.

Sage blocked the attack and pushed the blade back. Keitaro was good. He was not using his full strength but what he was using was still very impressive to Halo. Though this was hardly what one would consider a time to praise, Sage learned long ago to study the way your opponent moves. From what Sage could tell this was a little more than just a test of skill. There was something else to this.

Keitaro smirked as their blades clashed again. Sage was a fast learner, very fast. He could tell that the young swordsman was already picking out the flaws in his style. Very good, very good indeed, and still…

The double bladed sword moved quickly and Keitaro shoved Sage back with his foot. He watched Sage spring back up and send such a force at him through the Halo sword that Keitaro was actually moved back a full foot.

One of the ropes vanished from one of the children.

This did not go unnoticed. Sage saw as one of his students, Ringo, fell backward onto the ground. However that was not all that happened. After Ringo fell to the ground some natural light had entered the room.

"Don't lose focus now!" Keitaro ran at Sage, unsure if he was truly off guard or not. Not that he really cared either way. Keitaro was already dead so he could not be harmed; the same could not be said for the man in front of him.

Sage held up his sword in defense. The double bladed sword hit his own near the hilt with such force that he winced. Keitaro hit his sword against Halo just right, the force had hurt his right wrist.

From over by the children something tightened.

"You have skill Sage. But you hesitate. Why?"

"I have my reasons." Sage felt the armor's power start gathering in the blade. This was something new and he wasn't sure what to do. Of all times to be attack this was one of the worst!

_Come on boy try to listen to what your armor says_. Keitaro shoved himself back away from Sage and charged at him again.

Sage was ready for him. He ducked; Keitaro ran past him, he swung at his challenger.

Keitaro jumped but the tip of the sword had scrapped his foot.

Another noose vanished and this time one of the girls fell. The fire light was starting to die down and sunlight was starting to sink in again.

A smirk played on Keitaro's face before he forced it to fade. Turning he glared at Halo, "Two down."

Sage allowed himself to look at the children again. "And five to go," He glared at Keitaro. Anger was still boiling inside him but he was glad that Ringo and little Haruka were safe now. Still this was no time to be happy over something little like that. He had to find a way to take this sick bastard out.

Keitaro smirked. "Let us hope you can make it." He vanished.

_What?!_ Sage looked all around him now. Front, back, side to side, behind, up, down. Where had that cheating bastard gone? At least with the sunlight in the room Sage could see a little better. Not by much though just enough to tell where he was.

BAM!

Next thing Sage knew he was thrown back against the wall. Pain shot from his back and quickly filled his body. His armor had managed to save him from the majority of the blow, thankfully, but he still felt like a car hit him… again.

Keitaro smirked. "You are easily caught off guard." _Use your power idiot_!

Sage stepped away from the wall wincing as he took his stance. "You are cheating." He stated.

Now Keitaro was very amused. "I do not recall stating rules. I just told you that the children would live if you beat me."

"And you're worried about my honor?"

"I have nothing to lose or grain here. But you have lots to risk, Sage Date bearer of the Halo Armor."

That was the first time anyone ever used a full title like that. Sage wasn't sure how to react to it and that was the least of his problems, he was bleeding. He could feel the familiar sting somewhere around his right shoulder. How he was hurt bad enough to start bleeding was beyond him.

"Come on now Sage. Don't tell me you're starting to get tired."

_Why are you just using your subarmor?_ A voice in the back of Sage's head asked.

He bitterly answered, _because I can't fully control my armor_.

_You can't make that same excuse forever. Use your powers, they are willing and waiting_.

_The children..._

_Will be fine._

_Keitaro.._

_You will defeat him_.

_But I don't like this._

_Seiji this will may not be the only time you are pushed into doing something like this. Use your powers to save the children. Light will not harm them unless you really want it to._

_You better not be lying._

_I'm not! I give you my undying word!_

Sage spun his sword and caught a glint of the sun, that small glint lit up his whole sword bright enough to bring a blinding light into the room.

Keitaro shielded his eyes. _Where did that come from_?! The light dimmed and he looked over to see that the warrior of light had donned his armor. "So are you taking me extra seriously now?"

"I never saw this as a joke." Sage answered in a stern voice. He held his swung his sword and a burst of bright shot out of the blade and headed right for the nooses. That light became a thunderbolt that went right through the rope, letting all the children go.

"Now this is interesting!" Keitaro smirked.

The voice had been right, the armor didn't hurt the children, and it freed them. Sunlight returned to the room, though it was mostly light from the sunset, it still gave Sage great comfort. "Let's end this."

Keitaro returned to high fighting stance. "Let's." He ran at Sage.

The sword of Halo again caught the light as Sage moved it. This was something the last sword had not done. Sage ran at Keitaro and clashed sword with Keitaro again, but this time Keitaro's sword broke. In fact it shattered.

That was not exactly what Keitaro had expected. "Seems you beat me."

Sage was ready to use the light attack again if he had to. "Are you really going to keep up your end of the deal?"

"Of course I am." Keitaro waved a hand. The fire was gone, ropes vanished, and the darkness that was out in the hall faded. "You better return to that room. You will startle your dear students if they see you like that." That said, Keitaro vanished.

* * *

Roughly four five minutes later, Sage walked out of the Dojo. None of the children knew what happened. He was still having trouble completely wrapping his brain around what had just happened. A man by the name of Keitaro had attacked him and was defeated.

A disembodied voice was communicating with him during that fight. It was not the ancient, or Kayura, nor Suzunagi. Was it his armor?

Sage had also been hurt. After the children left to get ice cream Sage went back into the classroom were the battle took place, Yoshi's classroom. Turned out that the thing on the wall he was slammed into was a metal shelf that held statues of Shinto Gods. Luckily the bleeding had stopped and his wound was already starting to heal. He was sure that it was the armor healing him but he had to proof of that.

"I need to tell the guys about this." Sage stated and headed for home.

* * *

Keitaro watched the warrior walk away from the dojo and head down the street. "Very good Sage, very good indeed."


	12. Inner Sea

Chapter Twelve: Inner Sea

"Wait back up." Rowen held up one of his hands. "This guy just wanted to fight you? He didn't say anything about a master or what his goals are?"

Sage shook his head, "And like he said none of the students know what happened. They don't even remember being on the ground or what happened before they were caught. I wasn't aware magic like that existed."

"After all you've been through things like that surprise you?" Kayura set her empty cup on the table. "I have never heard of that kind of memory spell before. There are pendants that can do things like that if you wear them; I speak from experience on that. But to just erase them without a pendant or anything? This Keitaro must be strong."

Ryo leaned back on Mia's couch. "Have you heard of a spell like this?" He asked looking up at Dais.

The white-haired man said, "I have yes, but not to such an extent. As Kayura said, Keitaro must be very powerful." He closed his eye. "What I'm more curious about is how he knew who Sage was. He didn't just know that Sage was the warrior of Halo, but he knew his sure name."

"We didn't know, or care, what you're sure names where." Dais looked at the Ronin. "At the time it was really for the better too."

"What about spells for creating pitch black and complete silence?" Cye asked.

A smirk came to his face and Dais opened his eye. "Oh that's very simple. Cale can do it better than anyone I know, with or without his armor; he does that just for the hell of it."

"I can almost make it completely black." Kayura said on the side. "Silence like what you experienced," She looked at Sage, "is very ease. I can do that now if you wanted."

"I'd rather you don't." Sage said. "Ever." He added.

"If this Keitaro guy knows you then I bet he knows who the rest of us are too." Kento spoke up. "I just don't get why he didn't go on about what his intentions were. Every time we've fought someone they've said clearly, sometimes loudly, what they want."

Rowen nodded. "You've got a point there Kento. Either Keitaro is just bored and goes around challenging people, or he's one of the smartest lap dogs we've ever met."

"One way or the other we better keep our guard up." Ryo said.

Cye nodded. "I for one don't want a fight like what Sage had." He looked at his friend, "I'm surprised you kept your anger locked in so well. We all know how protective of kids you can be."

"It was hard." Sage let out a sigh, "I think that I was more scared that angry truth be told."

"Why on earth were you scared?" Kayura asked.

Sage looked at the blue-haired girl, his violet eye almost stone. "The last time an enemy got the drop on me like that I did _not_ fare very well after words."

Kayura bit her tongue hard. How she could have forgotten something as large as that was a sign that her age was catching up to her.

"What should we do if he does challenge us?" Kento looked at his friends, "With the info he had on Sage I bet he knows how to hit our nerves too. If we end up fighting him one on one should we be ready for a sword fight or for something else?"

Sage looked at him. "What do you mean by something else?"

Kento leaned forward on the couch and put his elbows on his knees. "I'm not sure why but I keep thinking that if he were to show up and challenge one of us, he would use a weapon that we'd use."

"A test of skill," Rowen summed.

"Yeah."

Cye cringed, "Would he use things important to us to get us to fight him?"

Dais answered, "I would say yes if he was refused."

"I wonder if he will come after all of us." Kayura and Ryo said in unison. The two looked directly at each other after that.

"…That was creepy." Kento told them.

Though he was pretending to sleep, White Blaze had heard the whole story. The name Keitaro rang a bell in his mind but he couldn't remember where he had heard it. He was sure this was not the last they would hear from him though.

* * *

Cye began cleaning the kitchen back at the apartment. It was early in the morning, even for him, but he had not slept well last night at all. Thoughts about what had happened to Sage the other day bounced around in his head refusing to leave him alone. He couldn't really say that he was at all surprised that a member of the team had been attacked so soon after receiving a new armor.

No that wasn't really what bothered him about it; the thing that really bothered him about the whole thing was how it went down. It was one thing to challenge a friend; Sage would have answered it either way that was just how he had been raised. But bringing innocent children into the picture was just going too far.

Forget about being between a rock and a hard place. Sage had been pretty much backed into a corner.

This begged the question; if Keitaro went to such a length just to get Sage to fight him, what would Keitaro do to the rest of them? No one really knew for sure if Keitaro would go around challenging all of them or not. However they did decide it was best to air on the side of caution.

When at all possible they would travel in groups of two. If they couldn't then they would be on a very high alert. Should something happen they would try in any way they could to contact the others. Basic caution would hopefully be enough to satisfy Keitaro.

Today Cye would have to take extra measures for himself. Sayoko was coming by for a visit today. She had been in Tokyo for a few days on business with her husband and wanted to spend today with Cye. When she had called him last week to tell him she would be coming to Tokyo he had made it very clear what happened to him and his friends.

Unlike the Hashiba's or the Sanada's, the Mouri clan knew about the armor. Younger generations only thought of it as a story but those who had come to know Cye on a very personal level, had discovered it was real. As it stood now only a few members of his family knew he had a new armor, his mother, sister, brother-in-law, and grandparents. Other than them Cye had asked that no one else know unless they absolutely had to. Thankfully his family had agreed that the less who know the better.

Sayoko understood perfectly that if she was near her brother she was prone to random attacks, but had argued that she really wanted to see him. The two of them hadn't seen each other since New Years and that was hard to pull off in it. She had been so sick that week that she almost stayed home instead of seeing Cye. Thus today the two would spend the day together before she, and her husband, left to return to Hagi.

While Cye was so happy that he could see his big sister again, he was also very worried. Sayoko could very easily be used against him, even though she did know how to defend herself.

"Cye?"

He looked over to see Kento looking at him. "Yes?"

Kento studied his friend for a moment or two then asked, "You okay?"

"I think so." Cye answered. He shrugged, "Just thinking about what we talked about yesterday."

"Well like Rowen said all we really can do is wait and see what happens." He rubbed the side of his face. "I don't like this any more than you do. It really burns me that that creep did that to Sage. Attacking us is one thing; we can handle ourselves and do a good job of it most of the time. But attacking kids just to get him to fight, that's crossing a line."

Cye nodded. "I just hope that was the last we hear of him. We're not really ready for a fight."

Kento raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well," he leaned back against the counter, "We have new armors, yes, but we have no idea how to fully use them. The attack Sage used the other day is new to him he still doesn't know how to use it, or how he called it."

"True… He did do it again at the mansion though." Kento pointed out. "Sure it took him a while but he was able to do it. I just want to know if this means we can call out attacks with our minds now? We couldn't do that before."

"We can do a lot of things now that we couldn't before. These armors come to us at our will, we move our elements easier, our bodies heal faster, we are a lot stronger, and who knows what else?" He shook his head. "No one is even sure of what our limits are anymore. I happen to agree with Ryo that we are way more dangerous until we do find out limits."

"Yeah, 'cause who knows what we can do by accident."

"Exactly."

Kento picked up the newspaper. "Maybe we should look into getting these new cellular phones?"

"What?" Cye hadn't expected that to be said.

"It's an idea Rowen and I tossed around yesterday while he was kicking my ass." The young Chinese man looked back at Cye. "He thinks we should save up for cell phones so we can communicate easier when we are in danger."

"That would probably be a good idea. But poor Ryo still doesn't have a job."

Kento sighed. "True. I guess we could hint to his dad what we are thinking about."

"We could do that if we see him sometime soon." Cye looked at the clock. "Oh crap I'm going to be late."

"Hm? Oh yeah! You're spending the day with Sayoko." Kento smiled, "Tell her I say hello."

"Will do," Cye walked over to the front door and began putting his shoes on. "You off to talk to your grandfather today?"

"Yup," Kento let out a long sigh. "I have no idea when I'll be back either, you might be home before me for all I know. Grandpa said he wants to inspect this armor and see what I can do in it so far."

"So basically he's turning from grandpa to drill sergeant?"

"Oh god no!" Kento chuckled. "He's not that bad. I gather that the drill sergeant will be Sage's grandfather when he goes back to Sendai in June."

Cye stood up. "Poor Sage, He has to put up with so much from his family."

"I'm surprised you don't have such traditions like him."

"Oh we have traditions just not ones that are so stiff. For example, unlike Sage I don't have to worry about being landed in an arranged marriage. Or get bullied by my older sister for the stupid crap that I can pull."

Kento laughed.

* * *

Cye walked to the coffee shop where he was going to meet Sayoko. He was fifteen minutes late but hopefully his big sister would be forgiving. She usually was.

It was a nice day outside. Even though it was still early May there was a warm breeze blowing in, no doubt carrying the heat of summer on its back. Cye loved the summer time because it meant he could get down to the beach. He couldn't help that he grew up loving the sea.

_Ah there she is_. Cye spotted the familiar sight of his sister. Walking over to her he leaned over and said, "Is this seat taken?"

"Of course not Cye," Sayoko set her book down and smiled at him. "You are late."

He offered a half smile. "Sorry I was talking with Kento." Sitting down he asked, "How are you?"

"I'm fine. How are you this morning?" She smiled at him. To her Cye looked troubled and getting him to talk about his problems had never been easy for her.

The potter shrugged. "Hungry right now."

"Me too," She picked up the menu, "What's really good here?"

"Just about everything," Picking up the other menu Cye looked over the breakfast choices to accompany his coffee. "How is Ryuusuke?"

"Grumpy."

Cye looked at her.

Feeling his stare Sayoko sighed. "Well the business trip isn't going so well for him. The people he was supposed to meet on our first day here stood him up. Then the next day when we finally got a hold of them, they said they lost the right paper work to transfer the animals. Now between Ryuusuke and his boss I'm not sure who's madder about that."

Cye cringed. "Sheesh. Has the whole week been like this?"

"Unfortunately yes. Yesterday was the only good day. When we met with the Director of Marine Life for the COSL he had everything read and set out the way it had to be."

"Well I hope he gets a break soon."

"He will, once we get home he's taking a few days off. He'll need it too."

Cye nodded and looked back at the menu.

Sayoko looked over and decided what she was going to order. Setting the menu down her eyes fell on her younger brother, "Cye are you going to tell me what's wrong if I ask you?"

He was quiet for a few minutes before looking at her. His sea-blue eyes met her dark brown ones. "My friend Sage ran into some _trouble_ the other day."

"…Is he okay?"

"I don't really know. It's hard to tell with him." The warrior of water set the menu down again. "Sage was backed into a corner and forced to fight by someone named Keitaro. He won the duel but a few other happened that have us all on our toes."

"I see." She nodded.

Cye looked out the window spotting the aquarium. "Looks like its field trip day."

"I remember our field trip day to the aquarium." Sayoko mused. "I knew more than the tour guide thanks to you."

"Heh heh."

* * *

The bus stopped at the aquarium and the class got louder. Yuli sat near the back with three of his friends from Kendo Club. This was the last field trip of the year before summer vacation started. Everyone was a buzz about it too; they had to write a two-page paper about what they saw today so even the assignment was easy.

"Hey Yuli what are you going to do during break?" A boy with shaggy green hair asked.

Yuli looked at him. "First off my homework."

"You're homework?" The boy repeated.

Another with hair the same color as Yuli said, "Yeah Masao. If Yuli doesn't do his homework his mom gets mad."

Yuli cringed. _It won't be just her who get mad if I fall behind_.

"Oh cheer up Yuli!" The shortest of the boys patted Yuli's head. It was amazing the boy could see behind his long red bangs. "We'll help ya."

"Thanks Daiki." Yuli smiled at him.

Masao looked up. "Time to get off the bus," He said.

Yuli stood up and headed off the bus with his friend and classmates. "Let's go see those fish."

"And mammals." Daiki added.

Yuli and his class walked into the aquarium single file at first. Once inside they scattered into their individual groups.

* * *

To be in such a place as this was a strange thing for Keitaro. A thick sheet of glass was all that separated the swimming animals from man. It was beautiful yet sad at the same time.

He turned around and gazed at all the faces of the people who had flocked here to gaze at the beasts of the sea. They could not see him but he was sure a few could feel him there. Still there was a high chance that a few would be joining him on the other end of the veil today.

_I am going to enjoy this one_. An amused smile played across his face.

* * *

Yuli and his friend Gorou ran past the jellyfish. "There it is." Yuli said.

"The shark exhibit!" Gorou cried with joy. "I we can make a good paper on sharks."

"Why wouldn't we be able to?" Yuli asked as he walked by the shark tanks. "I mean look at these guys. My friend Cye says that sharks are some of the oldest things in the sea. Also the Great White is the last major predator untamed by man."

"I believe that. I mean those things are freaky looking! I'd stay out of the ocean for the rest of my life if I saw one of them swimming by me."

Yuli rolled his eyes. "Trust you to be scared of a shark."

"Aren't you scared of sharks?"

"No."

"Then what is the great Kendo Captain Yuli scared of?" Gorou leaned over and waited for the answer.

Yuli couldn't help himself. Smirking he said, "I'm scared of old armor being possessed and trying to kill me."

"…" Gorou shook his head. "Dude you have issues."

Yuli laughed.

Gorou looked at a plaque on the wall. "There are Nurse Sharks, Bull Sharks, and Tiger Sharks."

"Tiger Shark?" Yuli looked in the tank. "Oh I see them; they're all in the far back."

"They don't look like tigers to me."

Yuli was about to say something when he felt a drop of something hit his head. "What the?" He reached up and put his hand were the drop landed. Then another hit his hand.

"Hey!" Gorou touched his shoulder. "Is there a leak in here?" He looked up.

But a sound caught Yuli's full attention. The sound of breaking glass.

* * *

Cye and Sayoko walked out of the coffee shop. The day had clouded up while they had been inside.

"Looks like it might try to rain." Sayoko said.

Cye nodded. "Yeah it does."

Opening her purse Sayoko looked around. "I forgot my little umbrella."

"That's alright; we're just going across the street anyways." Cye smiled.

Sayoko nodded then both siblings stopped to see three cop cars speed past and stop by the aquarium. "Maybe not."

"The heck?" This was a rare sight. A very bad one too more so when the ambulance arrived with its sirens blaring.

One of the officers ran past Cye and his sister to direct the traffic away.

"Excuse me officer, what's going on?" Sayoko asked.

Without looking at her the officer replied. "One of the tanks has broken at the aquarium. A few of the students are still in there but unharmed as far as we know."

Cye's eyes widened and he looked at the busses. By his estimate there had to be at least a hundred students there today. Then a thought hit him like a ton of bricks… Was it Keitaro?

"I hope they'll be okay." Sayoko bit her lip.

"I'm sure they will be." Cye lied. He looked at all the windows of the aquarium. Looking for a sign of anything unusual that could signal an attack of any kind. Tanks like what this aquarium had did not just break.

Something caught his eye.

On the roof was a figure moved into the light just enough to be seen. However Cye easily made out what this character looked like. It was a man who wore old robes as if he was a reactor from later days. This man observed the crowd below before looking directly at Cye.

When the man's eyes landed on Cye he felt a horrible chill run right through his very bones. Something was really wrong with that guy. It was even more disturbing when the warrior of water heard a voice telling him that the man did not belong here.

_Keitaro_?

He could have sworn he saw the figure smirk. Then the figure faded away.

"Cye?" Sayoko put her hand on his shoulder, snapping her brother back into reality.

He looked at her. "Did you see anyone up o the roof of the aquarium?"

She shook her head. "No." Motioning to the entrance, "But they are bringing people out now."

Cye looked to the entrance and watched as the paramedics began bringing out children. It felt like something was squeezing his heart as he watched. Fortunately no one looked hurt; they just looked like they came from the water fight of the century.

Wait a minute. As he watched a few drenched students run out the front door he recognized their uniforms. They were from the same school Yuli went to. His fears were confirmed when spotted one of Yuli's friends he had met last summer.

Oh no…

* * *

_Can't … breathe…_ Yuli was running out of time. He was trapped in the hall way with Gorou and they ran out of air pockets. On top of all this they had to keep their eyes open for the sharks. Even though Yuli was sure that they would not attack them he didn't want to chance it either.

Sharks were known to attack if they felt threatened. But in all honesty, Yuli was more worried about the Jellyfish than he was the sharks.

A current, or at least what felt like a current, swept past Yuli and Gorou. Gorou was drawn away from Yuli into another hallway were Yuli couldn't see him. Then something grabbed Yuli's leg.

* * *

While Sayoko distracted the police with questions that any concerned citizen would ask, Cye made his way around the side of the aquarium. An attack or not, his instincts told him to get his butt in there.

On his way over there he had heard the children say how badly flooded the place was. Cye decided that the safest rout in would be on the roof. Even with all the tanks that this aquarium had there was not nearly enough to flood the whole place. This was why he felt it was some kind of an attack.

Stepping onto the roof Cye ran across the way and opened the door that led into the aquarium. Cye couldn't see the water until he was half way down, and then the line was visible. Had he any doubts they were quickly swept to the side when a school of fish swam by. He looked around to make sure no cameras where in sight before his subarmor appeared.

He dived into the water.

Up until now Cye had not worn his armor in the water like this. During the training sessions at Mia's mansion he had stood in the lake several times, but he had never submerged himself in the water. The biggest surprise for him was that he was breathing and only in subarmor. That hadn't happened before.

As he got closer and closer to the bottom of the stairs Cye saw that almost all the fish were swimming freely. The only acceptation to all this was the Jellyfish, from what he could see they were still in their circular tank. Cye looked up to see that the water line went right up to the ceiling.

A tiger shark swam under him.

Cye watched it pass by and go through a school of fish. Turning his head he looked at the exhibit where he knew the sharks were kept. Swimming down that way and into the hall, Cye noticed that nothing was in this area. Reaching the center of the exhibit he saw the large break in the glass that had allowed the sharks and water to get out.

Swimming into the vacant shark tank and headed up, he could see the water line stop enough for an air pocket. If luck was on his side maybe Yuli saw it and had headed up there. Surfacing he took a deep breath of fresh air before looking around.

The water reached over the catwalks that the aquarium officials used. It was so over flown that the space between water and ceiling was about seven feet.

"You are a quick one."

Cye turned on a dime to see the man from before. He was standing on the water…holding Yuli under his arm. The warrior of Torrent glared, "What did you do to him!" Cye demanded.

"Nothing yet," The man said. "He's unconscious. I'm afraid I gave him quite the scare when I brought him out of the water." A chuckle rose from him, "One would think a crab could swim better than that."

Cye didn't see how that was at all funny. "Are you Keitaro?" He asked.

The smirk reappeared, "Ah you are quick indeed."

"You're the one who flooded this place."

Keitaro nodded. "I felt your presents nearby and decided to take up the opportunity."

Glaring Cye asked, "So you do intend to challenge all of us?"

He arched an eyebrow in response. "Is that what you've all decided?" Another chuckle," Very well that might be a good idea anyways."

"What does that mean?"

"I think you already know." Keitaro waved his free hand and the water line receded. Sinking along with the water, he only stopped it at the catwalks. It would be a lot easier to move this way.

Cye swam up to the catwalk and flipped over the railing. "Leave Yuli out of this."

"I don't have a choice in that matter." Keitaro dropped Yuli onto the walk, the sound of him hitting the metal echoed around the area. "He may not be wearing the Jewel of Life but its magic is still lingering around him."

Now that was news to Cye. "So he's protected from you."

"At the moment," Keitaro admitted. "But I'm far more interested in you than him."

Cye really didn't want to fight. Now with Yuli there, he was still so unsure of his new limits that he was scared of hurting him. "Why are you fighting us?"

"I need to have a reason?" Keitaro held out his hand and a long spear formed out of nothing. "If it will give you and your friend's satisfaction, I am doing this for my own amusement."

Now his blood began to boil. "Your own amusement? You threaten the lives of innocent people for your amusement?"

"Not all the time." He began spinning the weapon and jumped onto the railing. "But the five of you, and your four friends from that other world, don't seem to get the picture unless someone is in danger."

_He knows about the Warlords and Kayura_? Cye got into a fighting stance. _Kento's guess was right. Keitaro does know a lot more about us than the other's we've fought_.

Keitaro tilted his head, "Do you intend to fight me with just your fists?"

"Yes." Cye answered. I do not want to wear my armor.

_What are you so scared of_? Keitaro wondered. "Then this will be a very quick victory for me." Pushing off from the railing he flew at Cye ready to strike him.

Cye held up his arms in an X just barely managing to block the attack. The force that Keitaro used pushed Cye back against a wall. He gritted his teeth and pushed his attacker back with his feet.

Keitaro hit the rail and Cye dashed to the side. Keitaro went after him and his spear clashed with Cye's gauntlet. However, the moment the two met the Torrent armor came of its own accord.

It would be hard to say who looked more surprised by that. Its master had not summoned Torrent, nor had Keitaro done anything to bring it forth.

"Looks like you pulled a trick on me, Cye of Torrent." Keitaro jumped back.

Cye held his trident tightly, "I didn't do anything. My armor came on its own."

Twirling his spear Keitaro replied, "I find that very unlikely." He threw the spear at Cye and leapt onto the wall.

The spear was easily knocked away by the trident. Cye watched Keitaro closely. He may be rusty on his fighting skills but he was not about to let that stop him. This fight had to end quickly before someone else got in and saw them.

While he held the advantage now Cye still needed to be very careful. He was well aware that Yuli still hadn't regained consciousness, which worried him, and Keitaro might attack him now. Just because he was told Yuli couldn't be harmed didn't mean he should believe it.

Out of the corner of his eye the challenger saw the water swirl and bubble. _This one is a little more in tune with his element than I thought_. A scythe formed is his hands, "Very well if you are going to finally get serious, then I'll enjoy this to its fullest." Running across the wall Keitaro slammed his scythe against the trident of Torrent.

The trident stood against the scythe's weight; however Cye was pushed back three feet. Pushing the scythe back, he ducked under and swung his trident and hit Keitaro in the side, knocking him back into the water.

Keitaro leapt out of the water and stood over it. _So his defense is good but he needs to use something else here_. _I better take a different step with things_.

Raising his hand the water line began growing back up.

_Shit_! Cye had to do something fast. Moving his trident on the rising water he channeled what energy he could into the tip of it. _Keep away from Yuli,_ he said to the water through his mind. He had no idea if it would really work or not but he still had to try.

"Come now and fight me, Ronin of Water!" Keitaro charged at Cye.

Pure instinct told Cye to move it. He leapt up just in time for Keitaro's scythe to penetrate the wall. On his way back down Cye brought his trident down on Keitaro's wrist.

Glaring at his opponent Keitaro moved back and grabbed Cye's arm, throwing him over his shoulder and into the rising water. _Stop stalling! You can do more than just hit me_!

It was almost like Cye heard him.

The water turned, swirled into a whirlpool, and Cye leapt out of the center. Swinging the trident up from the water below, the water following the tip, before sending it rolling at Keitaro.

_That's more like it_! He allowed himself to be struck by the attack. It was at least as strong as the last sure kill Cye had, though not really what Keitaro had in mind. Still his time ran short for the day. There was another place he just _had_ to be.

* * *

Cye reached the roof and set Yuli against the door. Even though he just came from a fight he still had no idea how all that had happened. That attack… it was so much like the super wave smasher and yet it wasn't. Still it had been enough to make Keitaro vanish.

That was strange in and of itself.

Still he had won. Cye beat Keitaro and the water of the aquarium was back down to the level it should have been. Now the officials could go in and save the fish. He was just too tired right now to try and help. His adrenalin had gone through the roof during that fight, coming back down from that was not going to be fun. A headache would no doubt greet him full swing within the hour.

Yuli groaned and opened his eyes. "Cye…?"

The potter looked down and smiled with relief. "Are you alright?"

"I think so." Yuli sat up, rubbing the back of his head. "Wait." He looked at Cye. "What are you wearing?"

Cye glanced down at his subarmor. "Oh that's right, we forgot to tell you..." Well this went from bad to awkward.

"Tell me what? What was that down there?"

Closing his eyes, Cye sent the subarmor away revealing his normal cloths. He opened his eyes; "I'll explain everything later. Right now we need to get off the roof, you got to get to your teacher, and I have to find a phone."

* * *

"That could have gone better." Keitaro sighed. "I know that boy is way more powerful than that. Why is he holding back?" Rubbing his wrist he mused, "Hmm was my message that cryptic?"

He looked down as Cye and Yuli got off the roof. "Maybe he just thinks that the child is immune to my powers? Heh that'll make it interesting when they all learn how immune to any magic that kid is now. All because the Jewel of Life has been around him so long."

"At least this Suiko has some better form of protective impulse. But back to business." Keitaro turn in the air. "Kento of Hardrock is in Chinatown now."


	13. Rooted in the Ground

**Magic**

Chapter Thirteen: Rooted in the Ground

* * *

Cye set two cups of tea down, one for Yuli and one for himself. How he had managed to serve the tea so calmly was anyone guess, the whole way back to the apartment his hands had been shaking and his mind was racing. Cye had managed to call Kento and Ryo after getting home between the two he didn't know who was angrier that Yuli was dragged into this. He was grateful when Ryo said that he'd call Sage and Rowen, he knew those two worked during the weekdays and only Ryo ever seemed to get through to them.

That had been a half hour ago; it would easily take an hour for everyone to get there. Kento would probably be late getting home because of the location in Yokohama that his grandpa lived in. Cye had felt so bad calling his best friend, if he hadn't then the others would have scolded him for it. That was probably the shorter of the two calls he made that afternoon, Kento had said he was leaving right then. Ryo on the other hand wasn't home the first time Cye called; it took four tries before Kimiko picked up the phone.

Sitting down at the small table Cye felt like he was swimming against a current. The events that took place that morning had happened so fast that he was still questioning if it was real or not. Any doubts he had about that though where always swept away when he looked at Yuli. Yuli was clearly upset by what happened, not so much scared as shocked, as far as Cye could tell.

Since they arrived at his apartment the kid hadn't said much at all. Cye had repeatedly asked if he was okay and Yuli insisted that he was. Though the potter wasn't sure if he really believed that, he tried not to press the issue too much. Everything would be explained once Ryo got there.

Yuli picked up the teacup and quietly sipped from it. He was trying so hard to piece together what happened, aside from the obvious, that he just couldn't make himself focus on anything.

Cye looked at him but resisted the urge to ask the question again. Somehow he knew that Yuli really wasn't okay, though he was impressed that his young friend was keeping himself together so well.

"Yuli."

The boy looked at Cye, "I'm okay… really."

"That wasn't what I was going to ask you," Cye paused, "What was going on before Keitaro caught you?"

"A friend and I were watching the sharks then the glass just shattered." Yuli answered, "Gorou and I ran, but I slipped and fell backwards. I think he called my name but he never came back for me."

"Some friend he is."

Yuli looked down. "I don't really remember what happened after that. It's all kinda fuzzy, I know I was swimming and something grabbed me but that's all I can put together before I saw you in armor." He looked at Cye.

Cye could still see the shock swirling in Yuli's eyes, "For the record that was not how we wanted you to learn about the armors."

"I'm sure it wasn't." Yuli agreed, but… "How did you guys plan on letting me know? If you did want me to know at all."

"Honestly we hadn't gotten that far."

Yuli gave him a blank stare.

The Warrior of Torrent closed his eyes. "These new armors of ours are different in many ways. We can do a lot of things better than before, our agility, stamina, and reactions are quicker. It heals about ninety percent of injures we've gotten and all normal bodily needs are halted. While that's all good we have no idea what our limits are, attacks are different, and until we figure things are we aren't very safe to be around."

Yuli slowly nodded. "No has had time to say much to anyone but your families I guess."

"Ryo did tell Mia a few things so we could use the property around her house for training." Cye shrugged, "It's the only place we could really think of."

"I understand." Yuli nodded. "I really do. It's not like you guys can just call me up and say 'oh by the way we are Ronin Warriors again.'"

Cye couldn't help but give a half smile, "Exactly."

Yule looked down at the cup of tea. "How long have you guys had these new armors?"

"Since early April."

"When I was away at the spring tournament?"

Cye nodded.

"How did you guys get them?"

Over the next hour Cye told Yuli the whole story. How Rowen found the book that he still had, the individual encounters they had with Suzunagi, and the training they now did on a weekly basis. And, above all, about Keitaro and the events that had happened so far with him.

The whole story took about an hour or so to tell. Yuli listened quietly as Cye talked, the boy was a mix of emotions as he heard all the things they had gone through the last month.

A few minutes later a loud knock echoed from the door, bringing both Cye and Yuli to full attention.

"It's open." Cye called

The door opened and both Ryo and Sage entered the apartment.

Ryo came around so they could see him, "Yuli are you alright?"

The boy nodded.

"Are you sure?" Sage asked coming to view behind Ryo.

"I'm sure." Yuli looked at them, "Keitaro didn't hurt me and Cye never gave him the chance."

"I think Keitaro tried but... he couldn't for some reason. In a way I think Keitaro saved Yuli from drowning before I got there. While we were fighting it looked like he was going to try and drown him, I never gave him that chance."

Ryo sighed, "At least you both are okay."

Sage walked across the living room and sat beside Cye, "Where is Kento?"

"On his way home from his grandpa's." Cye looked up at the clock, "He should be here soon." Looking back at Sage he asked, "What about Rowen?"

"He's at the library." Sage said.

Ryo took the seat next to Yuli, "Rowen's been there all day."

"How'd you know that?" Sage asked.

"I ran into Bue earlier today who said he saw Rowen at the library going over a 'mountain of mythology gibberish' as he called it."

"What's he looking for?" Yuli asked.

"Hmm," Sage folded his arms, "Probably to see if anything or anyone like Keitaro exists in mythology. Trouble is there are many characters like him in myths around the world and here in Japan. I've no idea what Rowen thinks he's accomplishing."

Ryo shrugged, "Maybe he'll find something?" Ryo had learned long ago that if Rowen really knew what he was looking for that he would find it somehow.

"I hope he can." Cye said, "It would be really nice if we could find out more on just who or what Keitaro is."

That reminded Sage, "Cye you said that Keitaro told you something that we should know?"

Nodding the potter said, "Keitaro knows who Kayura and the other Warlords are."

This bit of news sent a new string of questions into the brains of Ryo and Sage.

"He knows who they are?" Ryo repeated. "How does he know who they are? No one we've come up against has even mentioned them before."

Sage sighed, "I wonder if that means he will attack them too?"

"I'm not sure." Cye admitted.

"Probably," Ryo thought out loud.

"We'll have to warn Kayura and the others about this. I'm not sure if Keitaro can get into the Nether Realm or not, but Kayura is out in this realm more often than the other three."

"And she'd be in a heap of danger since she can't remember how to fight that well." Ryo finished for Sage.

"She doesn't really know much about her powers either," Cye added, "Or at least not enough that she could easily beat him."

"Um," Yuli caught the attention of the three older boys, "Does Rowen even know where we are?"

"I called the library and talked to him," Ryo said, "Rowen should be here soon."

Cye looked up at the clock, "I wonder what's taking Kento so long?"

Sage too looked at the clock, "You said he was at his grandfather's house?"

"Yeah I called him a while ago and he said he'd be right over." Looking at his guests he continued, "Grandpa doesn't live far from Kento's parents, maybe two or three blocks."

* * *

Kento was slammed back against the cement wall do hard that he bounced off it. His ears were ringing and his vision blurred, thanks to pure instinct he managed to dodge the next attack. Regaining his balance a few feet away the Ronin of Hardrock glared at the blurred form of Keitaro.

Keitaro held two spears before him that where made from stone. At first Kento was sure that was not going to be a problem, which was until he discovered that almost anything those stone blades touched, turned to stone. The Hardrock armor was immune to such an attack. Sadly the same could not be said for the stone stray dog near the street, nor the small flock of birds that had fallen from a metal telephone pole.

He swung the spears and smiled so his teeth shown, "Did I knock some sense out of you?"

Kento shifted his weight, holding his weapon at the ready, "Not as much as I'll get out of you!" He ran at his opponent.

Smirking at the sight of this Keitaro decided he would let Kento get in a few good hits. Attacking him right after Cye of Torrent had been a good move indeed. He had discovered the two were good friends but he never guessed that the young boy they called Yuli was a sergeant little brother. All that anger boiled inside Hardrock making this a much more interesting fight than the last two.

Keitaro loved this.

Running full speed at the man before him, Kento gripped tightly to his weapon he ran around to the side. Acting like he was going to stab him in the side, Kento changed his mind and caught Keitaro off guard by striking him in the shoulder.

While Keitaro had fully expected to be hit the pain these armors could inflict on him was not something he had been aware of. The jolt of pain that sprang up from the point of origin was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was all he could do not to scream or lose his focus. But he could _not_ allow himself to be hit again.

He grabbed the weapon in his shoulder and shoved it back so hard that he heard Kento grunt as the back of the weapon hit the chest plate of the Hardrock Armor. It was time to inflict pain on Hardrock and get out of there; his strength of the day was wearing thin.

Kento could see that he had hurt Keitaro, _good_. But he still had to pay for what he put Cye and Yuli through that morning. Kento of Hardrock was far from done with this guy he did have on definite attack he could use, and he could thank Dais for that. Slamming his fist to the ground the road beneath Keitaro gave way like leaves falling from a tree.

That was clearly not something Keitaro had expected but he was still smart enough to jump away from the spot of contact. Glaring Kento went after him ready to deliver that attack again when-

CRASH

Keitaro stood over Kento pinning him down to the ground by his throat. He ran at Kento so fast that the young Ronin didn't have time to react; now he was lying down on a pile of rumble in the garden of some back yard. On top of that he couldn't move; no matter what he did Kento could not move.

Digging his figures into the ground Kento tried to muster the strength that abandoned him. If he used the attack that split the ground again they would both fall but Kento had the better chance of getting out and he knew it.

_Come on…_ He nearly begged. _It's getting hard to breath…I just need it one more time…_

_Use the trees._ A very clear and stern voice said.

_What? The trees?_ Kento wasn't sure which puzzled him more, the voice or using wood. His element was stone.

_Yes the trees. Quickly_!

Kento had no idea how he was supposed to do that. Instead what he found himself doing was raising a hand and slamming it on the ground.

Keitaro let him go and jumped back, he looked around on the ground but nothing happened. Glaring at Kento he lunged back at him.

This time Kento was fully prepared and he moved back with equal speed. Lunging at Keitaro he pierced his shoulder again before swinging him around into the plum tree that grew in the garden.

Pain not only shot through his body from the new wound but from the large tree behind him. Either Hardrock knew more than he was letting on or this was just some random act of smarts. Keitaro couldn't fight anymore this battle was over… for now.

Smirking he said, "You get brownie points for this round Kento of Hardrock. I shall leave you with the satisfaction of wounding me twice."

Kento glared, as the man before him faded away like mist. He won the battle, yes, but… who was that voice?

* * *

Rowen stopped his motorcycle at the red light and cursed loudly. Gods he was so late but he just had to check that mythology section thoroughly to make sure he hadn't skipped anything. He found a lot of things that were pretty close to what Sage had experienced none of them really stood out. Whoever or whatever this Keitaro was, he was certainly not something they had encountered before.

While Rowen didn't think they encountered much they still fought a variety of things.

The light turned green but something orange caught the keen eye of the archer. Rowen speed off and changed lanes before turning into the parking lot of a 100-yen shop. Sure enough it was who he thought it was, lifting up his helmet he said, "Hey Kento want a lift?"

Kento let out a very long sigh and grinned, "You've no idea how thankful I am for one."

The blue haired man noticed that his friend looked shabbier than usual. "Hang on shouldn't you have been home already? You look awful."

Kento got on the back of the bike, "Well I just got attacked by Keitaro."

* * *

"OW!"

"Well then hold still!" Sage told Kento as he touched the cut on the side of his friend's head again. "Sheesh are you sure your helmet was on?" He asked before putting a bandage on it.

"Of course I'm sure." Kento scoffed, "I may have a thick skull but I'm not stupid enough to fight like that with nothing protecting my noggin."

Ryo ran his figures through his hair, a method that was quickly becoming a way to try and calm himself down. "We have got to find a way to communicate with each other during a battle."

"How?" Kento asked. "If we can come up with a way that we know will work I'm all for it."

Cye began pouring tea again, "Rowen had mentioned getting the new cellular phones."

"Yeah but after hearing what you both went through today I'm not sure if using them would register in all our minds or if time would even let us." Rowen said.

"Rowen has a point." Sage said, "I know I wanted to contact someone but it wasn't really an option."

Yuli spoke up, "Can't you guys talk with your armors or something?"

"If we can we haven't figured that out yet," Ryo looked at his youngest friend, "It would be nice though. I know that the Warlords and Kayura have figured it out but even they can't remember just how they did it."

Rowen took the cup of tea Cye offered him, "Which I have trouble believing."

"So do I," Sage agreed, "I really don't understand how they could forget something like that."

Cye sat on the sofa, "Me either but we do need to figure out some form of communication. Keitaro has been attacking us when we are apart from each other and the only two he has yet to attack are Ryo and Rowen."

Sage looked at his two friends, "And with the pattern Keitaro is taking the next person to get attack would be-"

"Me," Rowen said, "Then Ryo." He added.

The room went silent.

"We better come up with some kind of plan." Sage said as calmly as he could. The fact that the two friends he was closest with didn't sit remotely well with him.

Rowen sat on the chair beside the sofa, "Well the only weakness we know of is that Keitaro can feel pain from both our weapons and our attacks. Even with that bit of knowledge there is no guarantee that we will hit him."

"I think that we should do all we can to stay together and see what else our armors can do." Ryo said, "We have safety in numbers and maybe we can hound the Warlords into telling us how they manage to communicate."

Yuli looked at his five older brothers, "It's all you have to go on right now."

* * *

Keitaro sat on a building basking in the light of the sunset. His energy was out for the day so no one would see him but the wounds he got from Torrent and Hardrock couldn't heal either. It was a strange notion that he had no body but could still be injured. Moving his robes he looked at the two wounds, they were small but they still stung like nothing he ever felt.

"I cannot allow the other warriors to hit me with their weapons directly like that again." He told himself.

In order for his strength to return and the wounds to heal he would have to wait three days before attacking again. There was no problem with that though in his mind, it would fuel the brains of the young ones and get them really motivated to learn more of the armors. Trouble was that they would be expecting him and could in turn form plans against him.

Keitaro did not think he, or even his opponents, where ready to be in a battle with a large group. No he still had to figure out what all five of them knew before running into a battle with all of them head on. The next two fights would prepare him for that kind of fight.

He knew that Strata and Wildfire had more battles one-on-one than the other three during their time as Ronin, and therefore would be a larger challenge. Strata was a quick thinker and Wildfire was used to the true intensity of battle. The question was now how to approach Strata first without being noticed right away.


	14. Links

**Magic**

Chapter Fourteen: Links

* * *

Kayura set a pitcher of lemonade on the small table in the backyard. She knew that the Ronin Warriors would start arriving anytime now for the training they all had started doing. Things had changed so much for them over the last few weeks and now it was almost a routine to have them over like this. So much so that she could almost time when they would arrive, this would start soon.

Sitting down on one of the four chairs that surrounded the small table, Kayura closed her eyes and just focused on the sounds she could hear. This form of simple meditation was something Sage had taught her during the first week of real training. Listening to the surroundings made one more aware of the area they lived or worked in and less likely to be attacked, he had told her. Kayura could not argue with that anymore than she could argue with Dais on seeing past what was already there.

The wind began to dance around the dark blue locks of her hair when the sound of footsteps brought her out of her thoughts. She didn't have to look up to tell who it was, "All three of you came today."

"There wasn't much else to do in the Nether Realm." Sekhmet took a seat beside the young girl.

Dais said, "We found nothing in the records about this Keitaro fellow, so I believe it is safe to say he is not part of the Dynasty. More likely he is from this realm than any of the others."

"What makes you say he's from this realm?" Kayura opened her eyes. "I don't really see evidence of that."

"Simple, so far he can only control the basic elements and has yet to summon anything or name his attacks."

Cale leaned against the railing of the house, "If he was from another realm then his attacks would be named. Also I doubt he'd be the only one sent here to do dirty work, no master has that amount of confidence in their minions."

"As Rowen has said, this would be the ideal time for an enemy to attack them." Dais looked out across the lake, admiring how beautiful it looked in the mid-morning sun, "With things as uncertain as they are, they are unpredictable when in their armors. They have no idea what they are fully capable of and that leaves them out in the open."

He looked back at Kayura and his two friends, "However that also questions the motives Keitaro claims to have."

"Questions his motives?" Kayura gazed at her white-haired friend. "In what ways?"

Sekhmet shook his head, "We are waiting for the Ronin to arrive before we go into that. It is a new basis of theories that we have come up with over the last few days."

Kayura nodded, "They should be arriving soon."

"Has Keitaro gone after Rowen or Ryo yet?" Cale asked.

"No. He hasn't been seen since he attacked Cye and Kento in the same day." Kayura looked at the road in search of the Ronin. "He's probably waiting to attack when they least expect it."

Cale scoffed, "I wish him luck with that. We can't even sneak up on them anymore because they are so alert."

"That is not funny." Kayura glared at the blue haired man.

"It wasn't supposed to be."

"You forget Kayura that Cale doesn't joke well, nor gets humor." Sekhmet reminded her.

She let out a sigh and shook her head.

Silence settled over the group for a few minutes until Dais said, "Should we really be doing this?"

"Doing what?" Sekhmet asked.

"Teaching the Ronin to speak to each other with their minds."

"We have to now." Kayura said. "A week may have passed since Cye and Kento got attack but that doesn't mean they aren't still in danger. Keitaro waited a few days before he attacked those two."

"Don't get me wrong I understand why they need to know this, we can't avoid it any longer. I am just not sure they are really ready for a step like that. We all had our blunders learning this and I worry that if they step too far into each other's thoughts that rude surprises await them."

"They are strong," Kayura insisted. "I'm sure they will understand how this can be an… invasion of privacy so we will tell them to be careful."

"True enough but they are still children. Given the right argument I can see them prying into each other's minds or, gods forbid, ours."

Everyone cringed at that thought. There were some areas of their minds they didn't even allow each other to look into.

"Then there is also a chance they can't all talk to each other." Cale pointed out.

"Well they won't be able to for a while." Kayura said, "I'm sure they'll figure it out."

"We better tell them all we can," Sekhmet gestured over by the lake. "I can see White Blaze coming this way, the Ronin must not be that far behind."

Kayura squinted her eyes and sure enough the large white tiger was running full speed back to the house. "So today's lesion should be about mind communication."

"It will have to be," the green haired man let out a long sigh, "despite our doubts we all did know it would come to this eventually."

"First thing is first; when they all arrive we will talk about Keitaro." Cale said.

Sekhmet nodded, "Agreed."

"Ah I see the car." Kayura stood up to get a better view of the old beat up Nissan than Kento said his grandfather loaned them.

Sekhmet shook his head, "I will never understand the draw to cars."

Cale chuckled, "It's a mode of transportation."

* * *

Sage raised his visible eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?" He asked Dais.

"I'm saying that this Keitaro may have other motives that he will not share." Dais leaned back in his chair, resting his chin on his hand he continued, "At first Rowen's assumption that Keitaro is simply testing skill sounded right to me. However after hearing what you, Cye, and Kento did while fighting him I'm starting to think there may be more."

Rowen looked at the one-eyed man, "Such as?"

Sekhmet said, "On top of the questions regarding his origin and if he has a master, we must question his motives again."

"Keitaro said he was doing this for his amusement." Cye repeated.

"If he is then this is a different way to do it. Look at what he has done so far while he attacks, forced you two," Sekhmet pointed to Sage and Cye, "to fight, used children to get you to do it and he left when you launched a new attack."

He gestured at Kento, "Then he attacks Kento hours after Cye, and from what Kento told us Keitaro knew that Kento had been told of the attack on Cye. Not only was Kento angry but very willing to fight, because Keitaro hurt Cye and put Yuli in danger after, Kento struck him twice he vanished. If he was really testing skill he would have worked through that injury, or the attacks you all threw at him."

"If he is not testing us, and you don't think he's doing this for his amusement then what do you think?" Rowen asked.

"We're not sure." Dais said.

"And we could easily be wrong, but the way he is attacking you guys makes very little sense to us." Cale shrugged.

Ryo stroked White Blaze's head as he listened to what the Warlords had to say. "So then we need to corner him and get him to explain a few things."

"I'm game, let's get him out here." Kento said.

"Now hold on Kento, we can't just call and he'll come." Rowen pointed out. "Keitaro hasn't been seen for a week and the only sure chance we'd have of seeing him right now is if Ryo or I played that bait."

No one liked that idea.

"So then what should we do?" Kento looked at his tall friend, "Wait for you and Ryo to get attacked then ambush him?"

"Since the three of you are stalking us I don't think Keitaro will easily get us alone." Ryo said.

"You know we are just doing that because we don't want you two attacked."

"We know that Sage." Rowen looked at his roommate.

Kayura handed Cye a glass of lemonade, "The way I see it is that we don't have options for any kind of real plan right now. Even if we did resort to using Rowen and Ryo as bait we still don't have any guarantee that Keitaro would take the bait. He's not a fish looking for worms."

"Kayura is right." Rowen said.

"I don't like this," Cye looked at Rowen, "You're saying all we can do is wait for you and Ryo to be attacked and hope he goes away?"

"I'm not saying that all we can do is sit and wait. What I am saying is that it will happen and it's all we have to go on." Rowen crossed his arms, "Besides I'd hardly say we've been doing nothing."

"Rowen's right." Ryo said looking at the other three, "In any case, say we do somehow capture Keitaro, then what?"

Kento formed his hand into a fist, "We find out why he's so interested in fighting us. Then we send him packing!"

Sage shook his head; "He might vanish like a mist if we catch him."

Kayura blinked, "Vanish like a mist?"

"When the three of us fought him the one thing that really didn't change was how he leaves." Kento looked at her, "He vanishes into thin air like he's made of mist."

"Sounds like a ghost." Cale said.

Kayura thought for a moment, "To vanish like that he must be very powerful."

"Not really, that doesn't take much power." Dais and Cale said almost in unison.

Sekhmet looked at the group, "For now let's just focus on getting as far with training as we can. I really doubt that Keitaro's just interested in the Ronin."

"You think he will come after us?" Kayura stared at the green-haired man.

"I would be very surprised if he did. Keitaro knows who we are and as it stands we are no stronger than the Ronin."

Ryo glanced at Kayura; right now she was the most vulnerable sine she couldn't remember how to fight like she did under Talpa's control. Unless she went back to the Dynasty she'd be in real danger after he and Rowen fought Keitaro. Looking at Dais he said, "You mentioned that you had something else to tell us."

Dais looked at Ryo for a moment or two before answering, "Yes. We have decided to teach you how to communicate through your minds."

Everyone looked at Dais with a mix of an 'about time' and a shocked expression.

"However before we tell you how there are a few things about it you have to understand." Cale paused before, "You may or may not be able to talk to each other at all, and I don't mean just because you are new at this. It deals with what elements you control."

"There is also a risk that you won't just talk to each other, you might accidentally hear thoughts you shouldn't, or see memories if you are not careful." Sekhmet gestured to Cale; "I saw an old memory from his childhood once because I got careless."

"And it's one thing to play mind games as to invading the mind itself." Dais said offhandedly.

Sage nodded, "So we need to be really careful until we get the hang of things."

"Correct."

"What do you mean by we might not be able to talk to each other because of the elements we can control?" Kento asked, though he had a vague idea why.

"Yeah would you guys care to explain that?" Rowen looked at them.

Kayura answered, "It's an old basic rule of magic and of the planet." She began, "Elements have opposites and complements in which they can work with gently or rough with. The best-known example would be fire and water; they are opposites on the element scale because they cancel each other out. Water puts out the fire but if fire boils water enough it becomes vapor."

Looking at Ryo and Cye, "So because of that you two may or may not be able to talk to each other with your minds for a long time. The same goes for Kento and Rowen."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Air and earth are opposites too." She told them, "I think Sage might be the only one who can talk to all of you right off since light can be found somewhere in the other elements."

Sage blinked.

Kento chuckled, "Guess you'll be the telephone for a while Sage."

"Yeah you'll be charged extra."

"Hey! That's that supposed to mean?"

"How about you guys?" Ryo looked at the Warlords and Kayura, "Could we talk to you?"

"That will probably have its limits too." Cale said.

Dais nodded. "Since we don't really rule elements we aren't sure who we can talk to out of you five, but we can freely talk to each other."

"Then there is a chance that you four can't communicate with the five of us." Rowen said.

"That's true." Kayura admitted.

Cye sat up, "So how do we go about talking to each other with our minds?"

* * *

Further into forest and high above the ground, Keitaro looked at the shimmers of the lake which guarded the house he knew the warriors where at. His wounds had healed days ago, and thanks to his observations in their training he had slowly been forming plans. However there were problems concerning his last two opponents.

During the last week Keitaro had discovered that the Ronin finally caught onto the pattern in which he attacked. Only now was he sure that he could get them to fight him willingly. There was no longer a need to force Sage, Cye, and Kento into fighting on the spot when the next rounds with them.

But there was still Rowen and Ryo to worry about.

Confronting those two was going to be difficult. After asking around he had discovered that Rowen was considered the clever one while Ryo was heartfelt. Both of them had gained a little more experience on the battlefield too, thanks in large part to Talpa capturing the other three Ronin a few years ago.

Still Keitaro was sure he could get them both to fight him now with little effort. He had deduced that Rowen would fight him simply to analyze him and give any information he found out to his friends, especially Ryo. And Ryo would accept fighting because all four of his friends would be injured one way or another. No, getting them to fight him would not be a problem at all.

The problem would start when the battle did. By now the Ronin knew that Kento had been able to hit him twice and injure him. To add small insult to injury, fighting a skilled archer or someone who wields two swords was going to be very difficult. In the past Keitaro never fought a warrior with those skills. These next two fights would have to be quick enough to get them attacking him but long enough to keep them guessing.

"This may not be a good idea to strike tonight though." Looking over to the sun as a flock of birds flew by, he added, "I only have a few months left. If these warriors are going to be ready for the assault that is coming, after this round is over I will have to make things nasty." Closing his eyes he lowered his head. "If I do not push them as far as they can go then they will die in the late weeks of fall."

* * *

"Now that you know how why don't you give it a try?" Dais suggested.

The Ronin looked at each other for a long time until, "Alright I'll go first." Sage said.

"Just remember to imagine yourself whispering. Talking directly to the mind makes things sound louder than they really are." Cale warned the Warrior of Light.

"I really don't need you to tell me that." Sage looked at Cale then closed his eyes. It took him a few minutes until he felt was he was ready.

_If anyone can hear this, raise a hand_. Sage opened his eyes to see that just about everyone had their hand raised.

Kayura couldn't help but smile; Sage was a little more powerful than she thought. She was even able to hear him. She clapped her hands, "Right so who wants to go next?"

Ryo opened his mouth to say something when the phone started ringing inside.

"Hm?" Kento looked at the window. "I wonder who that is?"

Kayura stood up and ran inside.

"I think its Mia." Dais looked at the others, "She called last night to tell Kayura that she and Jack may be coming home early. One of Jack's older sisters and his nephew, where hit by a drunk driver yesterday in Kobe."

Cye frowned, "Oh no. Are they okay?"

"They were hit pretty hard, I think Kayura said the words Mia used where't-boned and sent into the next intersection.'"

"They're in bad shape then." Sage said, "Probably in the ICU which means Jack and Mia will put the honey moon on hold so they can come back here."

"Head to Kobe first to make sure his family will pull through." Kento added.

Ryo nodded. _I hope they will be okay._

"Okay that was weird." Kento looked at Ryo.

Blinking Ryo tilted his head.

"I heard what you though." Kento said, "That was weird because I was looking right at you but your lips didn't move, obviously. It was weird…"

Kayura walked back out and looked at the others, "Mia and Jack are going to catch an early flight tomorrow. They are going to Kobe for three days to see his sister and nephew, and then they are coming back here."

"I think we should dust off the house a little before they get back." Sage looked up at the mansion.

"Mia'd like that." Kento agreed.

Kayura nodded, "Well Mia did say that if we've made too big of a mess in the yard or by the lake that she would like it cleaned up before the weekend."

"Alright we should all come here on Friday to clean then." Cye said.

Ryo nodded.

Rowen closed his eyes; "I have to work Friday even so I can't stay long."

"Just pull double while you're here then." Kayura put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Let's get back to training." Sage said.


	15. In The Clouds

**Magic**

Chapter Fifteen: In the Clouds

* * *

Ryo leaned over the table and marked off the date of the calendar, "Mia said she'd arrive at Tokyo station tomorrow?" He looked over at Kayura.

She nodded and finished tying on the butterfly pattern bandana. "She will be arriving sometime in the afternoon. I'm going to meet her at the station then she wants to go get the groceries."

"What about Jack?" Sage asked, handing Kayura the broom.

"Thanks, Jack will be in Kobe until Tuesday so he can help his brother in-law and two nieces around the house."

Kento took out a bucket of cleaners from the closet, "Jack's a good guy."

"Yeah and with the six of us we should be able to get the house really clean for those two in a few hours." Cye looked at Kayura, "By the way I noticed that the Warlords aren't here."

Shaking her head Kayura said, "Dais is looking after some affairs on his end of the Nether Realm, Cale went back to his hometown to visit a grave site, and Sekhmet refuses to return to this house after Mia gets home."

"Visit a grave site?" Sage looked at Kayura a little surprised.

"Don't ask, just clean. I'll tell you later if I remember." Kayura walked out to the balcony.

Sage shrugged before picking up the window cleaner and paper towels. "Later then," He called out the open door.

"Does anyone care if I turn the radio on?" Kento asked loud enough for Kayura to hear.

"I don't mind as long as you don't turn to any station that sounds like noise!" Kayura called.

"And not too loud either," Ryo added, "White Blaze is napping."

"Okay." Kento walked over to the table where the radio sat and turned it on. After a few minutes, he landed on a station that everyone agreed on.

* * *

Rowen went into Mia's at home office with Cye to start cleaning around the large mess Jack had left. A mess that from what Rowen could tell was a bunch of very thick medical books, papers, and dust left from his days in medical school. Rather than try to organize it he walked right by it without a second glance.

Cye on the other hand stopped to look the large pile over. "You really think it's okay to just leave that as it is?"

"I'd rather not touch it if we can at all help it. If Jack's organization skills are like Mia's said before, then he knows where everything in that mess is." He opened a window to let some fresh air circulate, "So it would be better not to touch it because then he won't be able to find a thing."

"Kinda like your dad."

"Exactly like my dad."

Cye chuckled before getting out the duster, "You heard from your parents recently?"

"No." The blue haired man shrugged, "It's really a rarity that I hear from them and it's always been that way." He leaned over the desk and began cleaning the computer. "How about you? Any word from your sister since she went home?"

"Just a call to let me know she got home okay, she was worried Keitaro would try to attack her once she was out of Tokyo." After letting out a long sigh he said, "So I told her about Kento getting attacked and how we have a good idea who's next." He glanced at his tall friend.

Rowen didn't stop cleaning but he could feel Cye's eyes on him, "Keitaro will attack me when he is ready too."

"You're really calm about the whole thing."

"I have a plan for when he finally shows up." Rowen said.

"That doesn't surprise me, but there is no telling when he might strike at you. Or even if it really will be you get goes after next."

Now Rowen looked at Cye, "Ryo is just as aware of that as I am."

"But unlike you, I'm sure he won't be ready for that. Ryo's a doer not a planner."

"So is Kento and he was able to land two hits on Keitaro, even after being jumped." Rowen pointed out. "When Ryo gets attacked I'm confident that he will be the one who chases Keitaro off."

"What do you mean 'chase him off'?"

Rowen knelt down to clean the tower of the old computer; "When Keitaro makes his last attack, be it on me or Ryo, it will also confirm or not if the Warlord's suspicions are true."

"So you really think he will leave after attacking the five of us?"

"I doubt it; Keitaro has said he's fighting us for his amusement right?"

Cye nodded and cringed at the memory.

"He never said how long he was going to fight us."

"That is true…" Cye trailed off. The aspect of a long fight against Keitaro did not sit too well with him. Sure, after a single attack he left, although there was no way to be sure it would always be that way.

Rowen reached for the glass cleaner, spraying it on the monitor he voiced the fears he knew they all had, "I just hope he doesn't drag Yuli back into the fighting again, or Mia."

"We all hope that he leaves everyone we know alone. Mia is a wife now and that should come first for her now, not the five of us fighting to keep the world safe."

Rowen nodded, "Not to mention she wants that doctrine in mythology. Then there is Yuli's education to consider too, the little guy has a lot going for him, I'd hate to see that interrupted again because of our fights."

Cye agreed completely with his younger friend on that. "I'm sure Yuli wouldn't mind either way unfortunately."

"The five of us can't tutor him forever," Rowen remarked.

"No we can't."

Rowen walked over to the windows and opened two of them so some fresh air could circulate into the room. "Nice day."

"It is." Cye began cleaning the wooden desk, "So I heard you got promoted at work?"

Nodding the blue haired archer said, "Yeah I'm the assistant manager now." He shrugged while walking to the bucket of cleaners, "It's a good position and my pay did increase quite a bit but I'm not sure much good will come from it."

"What do you mean by that? I recall a time when you said you'd love to have that position."

"That was before the break ended."

"Well there is that to worry about…" Cye trailed off. There were two other things he was really worried about too. Now though hardly seemed like the time to bring them up. Even if he did he was sure Rowen already knew about them and what to say.

"When Mia gets home do you think we should tell her what's happened in full detail, or wait a few days?"

Cye thought for a moment, "I think we should let her ask us. She'll be exhausted from the time change and may not have the brain power to take it all in."

Rowen nodded.

Cye picked up the bucket, "Well now that we're done in here let's head to the next one."

"Sounds good to me. You know tomorrow, one of us will have to give Kayura a ride into town."

"I will that way no one gets arrested." Cye smirked and headed to the door.

Rowen followed, "Are you saying that Sage and I are bad drivers?"

"Maybe," He walked out of the room.

SLAM

Cye blinked, "Rowen there was no need to do that." He turned to look at his friend but found himself looking at the door.

"I never touched the door…" Rowen slowly said from the other side.

A sinking feeling crept its way into Cye's stomach. "Rowen can you open the door?"

"I'm trying," Rowen answered, "It's locked."

"What?" Cye reached for the knob and tried turning it, the knob wouldn't even budge. "But Mia doesn't have a lock on this door."

Two loud noises echoed from inside the room.

"Rowen…?"

"The windows just closed themselves."

Now Cye was worried.

"What's going on?" Sage asked spying the Torrent Warrior.

Cye looked at him, "Rowen is locked in Mia's office…"

Sage stiffened. "What?"

"I'm locked in the damn office." Rowen said loud enough for Sage to hear.

While Cye and Sage began talking on the other side of the door, Rowen took a long look around the room. Nothing was out of place from what he could see, although that didn't stop the hair on the back of his neck.

"Rowen are you okay in there?" Ryo's voice asked.

"Fine." Rowen answered. "Nothing's really happened… other than the temperature is starting to drop."

"Okay, Sage and I are going around to the balcony to pry open the windows. Kento and Cye are going to try the credit card trick," Ryo informed him.

"The credit card trick?" Rowen repeated.

"Hey it always works when my siblings lock themselves in their room."

"Kento this room does not have a lock, the door is jammed or something."

"Something indeed." A new voice said.

Rowen looked at Mia's desk to see a man in an old tattered kimono sitting in her chair. The descriptions he had heard where fitting.

"Keitaro."

There was a large thumb followed by what sounded like a herd of elephants on the other side of the door.

"I see I need no introduction then." He stood up.

"After attacking three of my friends, I have a good idea of what you'd look like."

He smirk crept onto his face, "I'm sure you would."

"So you lock me in a small room to attack me?" Rowen watched this enemy very closely.

"That and something else." Keitaro stood four feet away from the Ronin Warrior. This one was different from the other three he just fought. He could tell that Rowen was ready for this fight.

"Something else?" Rowen repeated, his eyes never leaving his opponent.

Keitaro smirked, "You shall see, but first let me see your armor."

"No."

As expected, "So I must per sway you to call it."

"I'm not going to fight you in a closed space so my friends can watch you try to defeat me while I avoid destroying priceless artifacts."

Smart one indeed, "Then I'll just beat you senseless until you have no choice."

By now Ryo and Sage had made it onto the balcony.

"Or until the others get in here."

"After all I did to three of your friends you think I'm not prepared for this?" Keitaro chuckled, "You are amusing." He smirked, "I can tell that you've some kind of plan and I've looked forward to fighting someone who thinks as fast as you. Let's see just how much you rely on your friends when they can't see you."

Keitaro snapped his fingers as a thick mist appeared in the room.

Soon Rowen could barely see Keitaro in front of him, and all he could hear now was the thuds from his friends trying to break into the room.

* * *

"Damn it!" Ryo slammed his shoulder against the closed window he could no longer see through.

Sage slammed his elbow into the other window and glared. _Rowen_! He called to his friend.

All that came as a reply was the sound of breaking glass and something snapping in half from the office.

Ryo punched the window but nothing happened, "Shit, he won't answer me."

"Me either," Sage said as he glared at the window. "Ryo we have to get in there somehow."

"I know that." Ryo was getting frustrated.

Kayura leapt up the two boys, "What the hell is going on?!"

"Keitaro's trapped Rowen in Mia's office, we can't get in," Ryo told her.

"_What do you mean you can't get in?!"_ Kayura's voice rang clearly in their heads and in their ears.

"We can't get them opened", Ryo and Sage said in unison.

_The door is completely jammed, if we make cracks in the wood they just heal themselves! _Cye informed Kayura.

We are in our subarmor and the glass still won't break! Ryo said hurried.

Kayura rammed the windows with Sage and Ryo, "Have you tried your powers?"

"I'm _not_ burning the house down!"

"I didn't say to burn it down!"

They all clearly heard a large crash on the other side of the glass, it sounded like the house was trying to collapse.

Kayura's subarmor appeared as she helped the other two Ronin try to break the glass.

* * *

Kento ran and threw himself at the door, it cracked but sealed itself back up.

"This is getting us nowhere." Cye glared at the slab of wood.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Kento looked at his friend.

Cye shook his head, "But we have to find a different way in. Even if Rowen is only in there a few minutes, there is no telling what Keitaro is doing."

They slammed into the door in unison before Kento asked, "Do you think Keitaro planned it this way?"

"I'm sure he did," Cye would be surprised if this wasn't the plan. "Rowen told me that he had some sort of plan for when Keitaro attacked him, but I really doubt it was for this kind of situation."

Kento glared and yelled into the wood, "Rowen! You better be putting that brain of yours to work in there, damn it!"

Cye kicked the door hard, "How do you know he can hear you?"

"I don't!" Kento head butted the door.

Cye blinked, "Kento don't injure yourself too!"

"Hey if we don't get in there then Row-"

White Blaze roared and leapt between Kento and Cye, he easily broke through the door. The tiger slammed against the glass windows, breaking them down, before running at Keitaro.

It took a few minutes for all this to register in the boys mind before they ran inside to help their friend. The mist cleared and they saw Rowen in full armor, panting hard, a few feet away from what had once been Mia's desk.

Looking up Ryo then saw the man that was Keitaro.

White Blaze had cornered Keitaro and was growling with every intention of a kill. Ryo had only seen his tiger friend this way a few times in his life; it was a sure way to scare even him.

Kento ran over to Rowen's side, "You okay man?"

Rowen swallowed then answered, "Yeah I think so."

"So you are Keitaro." Kayura glared at the man who dared hurt men she took as older brothers, friends, and destroyed Mia's office.

However, Keitaro's attention was fixated on White Blaze. He looked at the tiger with mixed emotions. "You all appear to have an unfair advantage over me." For the first time he looked at the group of warriors before him. It was not time to attack them as a group just yet; with White Blaze there he may not even have the chance to do it anyways.

"Until the next time we meet," Keitaro then faded away.

White Blaze roared louder than Ryo had ever heard before before.

Rowen returned to wearing his subarmor before letting out a long sigh.

"Rowen are you sure that you're okay?" Kayura asked.

Everyone's eyes were on him but Rowen nodded, "Yeah I'll be fine," He looked at them, "Are you all okay?"

"Just pissed as hell." Kento crossed his arms, "That ass had some nerve to trap you in here then totally turn the place upside down."

Kayura looked at the mess the office was in, the table was snapped in half, glass from the displays of swords had been shattered, and the tower for the computer was completely smashed. "Well on the bright side she has everything she needs on back up disks."

"We better go out and find things to replace these with," Cye ran his hand through his hair, "Mia's going to be pissed when we tell her about this."

Rowen rolled one of his shoulders, "If I replace it then she hopefully won't get too mad."

"What makes you think you're the only one who's gonna replace it?" Kento asked it tall friend.

"Let's see my head broke the glass, my back broke the table, and I dodged the attack that killed the tower for her computer." Rowen looked around, "Dodging caused most of this mess."

Sage looked at his roommate, "Your head shattered the glass and you claim that you're okay."

"My helmet was on when that happened."

Ring. Ring.

"I'll get it, it's probably Mia." Kayura went out of the room and ran down the stairs.

Ryo looked at the white tiger who now stood by the windows. He had never seen White Blaze do anything like that before, he broke through what they couldn't and Keitaro left because of the tiger. What on earth was going on?


	16. Cinders to Ashes

**Magic**

Chapter Sixteen: Cinders to Ashes

* * *

White Blaze walked past the old trees of the forest; following the scent of the familiar demon he knew lived in the area. Even after all this time he was still puzzled why the creature had chosen to return to this dense forest rather than back to the Nether Realm. He just couldn't understand why one wouldn't want to return to their homeland.

Moreover, Aokigahara was certainly not Black Blaze's homeland, so for what reason had that demon tiger returned for?

After passing the old cave where the swords used to rest, the scent of Black Blaze became stronger, and White Blaze decided it was time to announce himself with a loud roar. While they were joined in one body for a few years the two of them hadn't grown very close to each other, however they could stand the other's company now.

No reply came thus he waited a few minutes before sounding a second roar and walked farther into the woods. White Blaze roared a third time and received his response. Black Blaze had to be maybe a half-mile ahead of him and half asleep.

The large white tiger broke into a run, leaping over large roots and rocks as he went along his way. Soon he came upon his demonic counterpart laying down in the shade of a dead tree.

Black Blaze greeted the white tiger with an annoyed face followed by a yawn. He sat up and sniffed the air once to be absolutely sure that no living humans were around.

He then growled, _Damn it White Blaze I had just fallen asleep_.

The white tiger stood his ground, _I am sorry Black Blaze, there is something I wish to speak with you about_.

_What is it then_?

_I trust you have either heard or felt that the Ronin are fighting again_?

An ear twitched, _I heard_, he leaned back and scratched his neck. _The whole area over here was buzzing about a begrudging soul who was taking out its anger on five young men who defended the country. It was not hard to derive a conclusion._ He stopped and slowly stood up on all fours, _That is not why you came to see me though_.

White Blaze shook his head, _Not really. I came to ask you about Keitaro, I thought_-

The black tiger moved his head back; _Yes I know why he is attacking the Ronin._

_You had better tell me then. _The white tiger pined his ears.

Black Blaze sat down, _Tell me White Blaze, do you remember Haytie_?

A deep anger filled White Blaze's eyes, _Haytie is returning_?!

_Most likely_, Black Blaze looked up at the trees, _He was here what? Maybe seven hundred years ago, and completely killed the defense that at the time protected Japan from evils of non-humans_.

_Seven hundred and thirty five years ago_. White Blaze reminded the other tiger.

_I am not surprised you kept count_. Black Blaze closed his eyes, _I wish it were safe to say that those five rest in peace but I am sure they don't_.

_They did not wear armor and even though the armors were hidden, I am sure Haytie still felt that power_.

_I'm sure he did_, golden eyes stared at brown ones, _that power was not strong enough at the time to be of any interest to him. Now there are new armors that not only bring out the power of five young men, but also amplify it with the very magic of the planet. I give it until mid-winter before he comes here with a full army to take those armors and kill the Ronin_.

_So then, Keitaro is pushing them to be ready for such an attack?_

_Yes, but I don't think that any amount of training or preparation will help them be ready for what's coming._

The white tail swished, _Haytie is __**not**__ immortal_.

_No but he is __**very**__ close to it._ Black Blaze laid back down, _for now just let Keitaro push the Ronin. Protect them as you must, of course jump in and protect them as you see fit_. _Keitaro can only deliver so much pain to the Ronin thus, he will resort into scaring them into action_.

_He has done a good job of that._ White Blaze growled low.

_What has he done so far_? Black Blaze asked.

White Blaze sat down, _He started with Sage while he was at a dojo where he teaches Kendo. After using a few tricks to take Sage out of his element, he threatened him with the lives of his young students. They almost hung from ropes until Sage summoned a nameless attack, which he said looked like balled lightning that Keitaro fled_.

Black Blaze nodded once.

_Next he went after Cye and used Yuli to get him to fight._

_He did what_? Black Blaze shook his head, _Keitaro should have known better than to touch the boy who holds the Jewel of Life_.

_He did save Yuli from drowning in the aquarium, but he did not hurt him. Seeing the young child there was enough to scare Cye into fighting, despite the fact that he didn't want to fight. He too summoned a nameless attack._

_I assume Kento was next to be attacked_?

White Blaze nodded, _Kento was attacked the same day as Cye, only a few hours apart. Kento was on his way home when Keitaro desecrated a Buddhist temple and had the statues attack Kento until they were destroyed. The two went head to head until Kento landed two attacks on Keitaro._

_And Rowen?_

_That was an interesting battle to watch_. _Keitaro locked Rowen in the office you almost trashed and would not let him out until he attacked. _White Blaze had a soft growl, _I am still able to break through his attacks though._

_Are you? _Black Blaze regarded the cat before him.

White Blaze nodded.

_So that just leaves Ryo_. Black Blaze closed his eyes, _hmm… I hope Keitaro is ready for that. Ryo must be boiling in anger over what has happened to his four friends._

_He is. I do not think that he will go all out in this battle though, he is fearful of creating another Inferno._

Black Blaze made a laughing sound.

White Blaze growled, fangs bearing.

_Oh calm down, _Black Blaze sat up again. _I'm sure Keitaro has no plans to drive the boys to desperation. Also I highly doubt the Inferno can be recreated_.

_I do not want that chance taken._

_Can't say I blame you._ Black Blaze stood and began walking away.

_Where are you going?_ White Blaze walked after him.

Looking back at the white tiger, he answered, _To find out which country Haytie is ransacking this time. _

_You think he is attacking someone else?_ White Blaze stopped.

Black Blaze stopped and turned to face White Blaze, _Yes. After what happened here the last time, he should have been here the moment the boys got their new armors. Since word is that he's coming here then he must be attacking another country right now. I will find out all that I can on him, you stay here and help Keitaro and Ronin. When I get the information we will need I shall return_.

* * *

"Ryo are you sure you're okay?" Kimiko asked, "You've got that troubled look in your eyes."

"I'm alright Aunt Kim." Ryo assured her, even though it was a lie he knew that if said just right she would buy it.

"Well if you're sure then alright," She smiled, "So can you do me a favor today?"

Ryo looked at her warily, "…Depends on what it is."

"Think you can handle going to the grocery store if I loan you some cash?"

"Yeah I can do that," Ryo smiled.

Kimiko opened her purse, "I have a list written out for what I need for the week, you can add anything you'll need." Pulling out her wallet she handed Ryo some money, "Just don't go crazy or anything."

Ryo took the money, "Where's the list?"

"In the kitchen. I'm going to work and I'll be home before closing time so no wild parties!"

"Yeah like I'd really do that," Ryo shook his head.

Kimiko waved before heading out the door.

Ryo let out a long sigh, going out in public wasn't really something he wanted to do right now. It would be far too easy for Keitaro to use the people of Tokyo against Ryo. Still he didn't want to stay in the house either since the attack on Rowen had proved that they were not safe anywhere.

However the biggest problem Ryo knew he'd face was his attacks… he had only mustered ten and they were very dangerous. Controlling them was hard and he nearly burned the forest down last time.

* * *

Making his way up to the checkout stand, Ryo went over the things on the list once more to make sure he had everything. "Radishes, tofu, soba, ramen, fish, a pound of pork, TP, a new set of light bulbs, and laundry soap." He glanced in the small cart and nodded, "Got it all."

Ryo stood in short line and a familiar voice rang into his thoughts before they turned dark.

"Ryo?"

"Hm?" Ryo turned around to see an auburn haired girl behind him, he smiled, "Rachel."

Rachel smiled, "I thought that was you I saw."

"It's good to see you," Ryo said, "You grocery shopping too?"

"Just picking up a few things for dinner." She said, "How have you been? The last I heard from you guys was when Rowen and Cye went missing."

"We did find them, Rowen got a bug and was at his father's apartment sick-"

"And his father didn't notice?" Rachel interrupted.

"Rowen's father is… interesting we'll just leave it with that. As for Cye he got caught up with some mess at the shop."

"…I thought that you guys had checked the shop a million times?"

_How much did Kento tell her?_ "Well his words not mind."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "If you say so…"

"So uhh how have you been doing?"

"I've been good. I just don't get why teachers pile on the homework heavy during the last year of school."

Ryo chuckled, "You're guess would be as good as mine."

"Oh you're next."

"Thanks." Ryo set the things on the counter and watched as the cashier range them up.

Rachel watched Ryo, _Something seems a little different._

* * *

Ryo and Rachel walked out of the small grocery store together, only to be greeted by the form of White Blaze running to Ryo.

"There you are White Blaze, were have you been all morning?" Ryo knelt down and hugged the tiger around the neck.

Rachel watched the two before slowly backing a few feet away.

Ryo turned to say something and blinked, "Are you still scared of him?" He asked.

Rachel looked at Ryo then pointed to the five hundred pound feline beside him, "It's a tiger Ryo. The largest cat known to man, how do you _not_ expect me to be scared of him? I know White Blaze won't do anything to intentionally hurt me. Still standing this close to a tiger makes me nervous."

"Well at least no one will try to mug you when you're with White Blaze and me."

Rachel sighed and shook her head, "Yeah that's real comforting."

"How about we walk you home so you can ease your fear of my buddy here?"

"Ryo you live in the other direction from me." Rachel reminded him.

Ryo forgot about that, "Well then we'll walk you half way there if you'd like. It would give us a little more time to catch up."

White Blaze interjected with a small growl. If there wasn't a threat of being attacked right now he would be all for Ryo visiting a friend, but with things being as they were it was not a smart idea on the Wildfire's behalf.

Glancing at the tiger Ryo caught the hint but he couldn't take the invite back now.

"I don't think White Blaze is too interested in that idea," Rachel remarked. Shrugging she said, "I can walk alone it's not that big of a deal."

"Well if you're sure."

"I am, but it was really nice to see you again. Maybe you and the guys can pick a weekend and come over to the teahouse? Friends get half off and it'd be a nice way to see you all too."

A smile came to Ryo's face, "Yeah I'll talk to them they may like it. Cye is really good at practicing the tea ceremony and I know Sage likes the tea you recommended him, so I'm sure Kento and Rowen could be persuaded."

Rachel smiled, "Hopefully I'll see you then."

Ryo nodded, they would go for tea when this all blew over. Although depending on how this all went down they may want something just a little stronger than tea.

"Bye Ryo." Rachel turned and headed towards the direction of her apartment.

"Bye Rachel." Ryo turned away from her and headed home with White Blaze at his side. Looking up at the darkening sky Ryo felt a small feeling of contentment, "It was good to see her again." He said to White Blaze, "Rachel is a nice girl; I hope we really can go to that teahouse when this is all over."

The large tiger nudged his head against Ryo's hip to try and comfort him. He was rewarded his Ryo's hand rubbing his ear.

They came to a crosswalk when a scent found its way to White Blaze. Snapping his head to the side and across the road the tiger let out a low growl.

Blinking Ryo looked at his feline friend, "What's wrong?" When White Blaze ignored him and chose to bear fangs at something, Ryo looked over to that direction and glared.

Keitaro stood between two shops with a smirk on his face. He did not attempt to hide himself from others, nor blend in with the crowed. His gaze focused on Ryo and White Blaze with utmost intensity.

Ryo looked around at the growing population of people crowding the street and sidewalks, making their way home from work, before turning back to Keitaro.

The man had turned and was now making his way down the other end of the street in the opposite direction. Almost daring Ryo to follow him.

_It has to be a trap_. Ryo thought, he looked down at White Blaze. "Should we take the bait?"

Even though he was against the method of teaching that Keitaro had chosen, White Blaze waited for the signal to cross the street, then bolted in the direction of this false enemy.

Ryo ran after his friend, ignoring the strange looks that the people of Tokyo gave him. _Alright I'll bite and get him for what he put the others through_.

* * *

"I need to call Sileny when I get home. I wonder if she was able to get permission from her parents yet?" Rachel mused to herself. She then smiled to herself, _It was nice to see Ryo again. School just doesn't really feel the same without him and the others around_.

There was a commotion taking place on the other side of the street, Rachel turned to see what was going on. A man wearing an old tattered kimono with his hair falling out of his topknot hurried past a group of people. He paused and looked right at Rachel.

A chill ran up then down her spine before the man turned and went along his way.

_The heck was that for…_? It felt like he stared right into her soul.

People moved out of the way as White Blaze ran past them like he was chasing a pray animal.

_What in the world_? Ryo had told her White Blaze was nearly harmless. What would make the tiger run like that?

* * *

As Ryo chased Keitaro down he could feel the anger building up even more inside himself. Logic, along with Rowen and Sage, would tell him that charging head on into battle angered was a bad idea. At this point though Ryo didn't care much, he knew angry or not that Keitaro would fight him none the less.

However, there were still a few things Ryo had to find out before engaging in full combat with this opponent.

Rounding the corner Ryo stopped beside White Blaze, before them stood an old office building that had recently been condemned, Keitaro stood in the doorway.

"So this is our arena then?" Ryo asked, readying himself for the battle.

Keitaro closed his eyes, "Yes you could call it that. I had planned to trap you in that little house but you just had to run out and help your auntie."

Ryo glared.

White Blaze growled and crouched down.

"So then, Sanada Ryo of WildFire, are you ready to face me?"

"I've some questions to ask you first."

Keitaro said nothing, he simply looked at the boy before him.

"Why are you attacking us? Are you after something we have? Will you go after the Warlords and Kayura too?'

Scoffing Keitaro answered, "Did Cye really not tell you my reason for fighting you? It's for my amusement. I'm not really _after_ anything the five of you possess. I have no use for your armors nor your lives, think of this as a game."

_A game?!_ Ryo's anger was turning white hot.

"As for those Warlords and the Lady Kayura, I have little interest in them. The Warlords are never around to challenge and getting into the Nether Realm without a guide is such a pain. Lady Kayura is in no danger from me-I will not fight someone who can't properly fight back."

"No but you'll use helpless people against us!"

Keitaro didn't was quiet for a few minutes before saying, "Well using the helpless gets your attention quicker."

Gripping his fists Ryo didn't seem to notice, or care, that his subarmor appeared. "And fighting us all individually? Are you just scared to take us all on at once?!"

"No not at all, I'm actually looking quiet forward to that moment. The only thing that stops me is knowing the time isn't right for that yet."

"Timing isn't right..? What does that mean?"

"You'll learn in due time." Keitaro held out his arms and twin katanas appeared in his hand.

Ryo moved to call forth his armor when..

"Ryo?"

Anger turned to panic in a heartbeat. Ryo snapped his head to the side to see Rachel at the corner staring at him and Keitaro.

Keitaro looked at the foreign girl then back at Ryo, _So they know each other… I really hate to be repetitive but this may be a good time for it._

"Rachel get out of here!" Ryo yelled at her.

Rachel saw Keitaro's sword and looked at Ryo, "But.."

"Go!"

Keitaro hit a katana on the ground, causing sparks to fly, and rubble from the building above came flying down. A circle fence of cement and iron surrounded Ryo, White Blaze, Rachel, and blocked off any escapes they may have had.

"No one is going anywhere until you and I are finished Ryo." Keitaro stated.

Rachel dropped her groceries and froze up. _Did.. did that really just_..

Ryo's blood was boiling again, "She has nothing to do with this! Let her get out!"

"No." He smirked at the insulted expression, "See this is what I meant. By dragging the innocent into the fray you're all more alert to the situation. If you beat me I'll let her go."

Images of a previous battle floated into Ryo's mind and the pain of the last time an innocent..

As if his mind was on the same track, White Blaze left Ryo's side and ran toward Rachel.

"You can't get out of this area Byakuen, my sphere is cast."

The tiger stopped a few feet away from Rachel before turning to bear his teeth at Keitaro. Pushing the boys or not, White Blaze definitely thought that Keitaro was starting to cross the line.

Rachel sat on the ground and was for once grateful to have the large cat near her. Yet with that aside, she still couldn't fully understand what was going on here. Faint memories of terror from nearly three years ago began taking shape again.

Keitaro and Ryo stared at each other, "Since you won't start I guess I'll have to as usual." He moved one sword and water shot up from the manhole cover that had been between the two of them.

The water didn't rain from the ground, but rather it swirled above like a water spout. Then it poured to the ground like a waterfall, surrounding the whole of the small area.

Ryo moved his hands, his full armor covering him and swords in hand. _What is he doing? I need to end this fast_! He stole a glance over by Rachel and White Blaze. _What should I do? The only attacks I could muster I don't have full control over_! He glared back at Keitaro.

Rachel's eyes grew wide, _Ryo's …Ryo's wearing armor! _Then another reality started to sink in. The young girl looked around her, the water swirling became more rapid. "It's like we're in a blender.." She whispered.

White Blaze's ears twitched and he roared loudly.

The roar seemed to click something in Ryo and he stood on an old stance, for some reason familiarity seemed the way to go but…

_I don't know if this can work in this new armor_. Ryo thought to himself.

_Try it and see.. if you don't then you'll have to take your chances._

_Who are you?_

_I will tell you later Ryo. Right now you have to make a choice on what you're going to do. If Keitaro lets that water out of the spiral then you're attacks will be as good as useless._

_But there's.._

_I know you are worried about the girl and White Blaze but you won't always have this option, now MOVE_!

The water suddenly came crashing down.

What happened next at first felt like déjà vu. Ryo moved his swords, mimicking the flare attack of the old armor, only a flare was not what Ryo would have called this attack. A swirl of white fire came out and engulfed the water as though it was eating it.

Keitaro even seemed surprised by this. Surprise faded away when Ryo's swords moved and the fires came right at him. He glared and held up his swords, ready to spring an attack, but Ryo's fire over powered him.

The white flames first went at him, then around, before dropping down on him lick a ton of bricks.

_This is not what I expected; I have to get out of here_. Keitaro vanished in the flames but not before making absolutely sure Ryo saw him do it. It was not time to fake his death yet.

Ryo glared, _coward_. At least he was able to defeat Keitaro, even if he didn't get all the answers he wanted. The Ronin leader had a feeling that Keitaro wasn't done with them just yet. _Rachel_. Ryo looked over at the girl and White Blaze, it felt like he was going to split in half.

Rachel had back up against a slab of concrete, her hands over her mouth and eyes wide.

"Rachel… are you okay?" He asked, his armor vanishing as he wore his clothing once again.

Slowly Rachel stood up, her eyes fixed on Ryo.

White Blaze watched the girl before making a small sound.

"Rachel?"

A large metal bar fell over from where it had landed before, creating an opening into an ally way. Ryo held up is arms to shield himself from the dust, when the dust cleared he saw Rachel run out of the ally.

White Blaze looked from the ally way to Ryo, he made a small sound before walking up to the boy.

The leader clenched his fists and hung his head. "Damn it!" One of his worst fears just came true, another innocent person had been dragged into their world.

* * *

A/N: HA! THERE! Now all chapters are updated to their current form. Don't expect an update in July, I am super busy, but will try for it.


	17. Sweet Rain

**Magic**

Chapter Seventeen: Sweet Rain

* * *

Ryo looked up at the apartments were Rachel lived. His stomach felt like stone as he walked into the parking lot. The image of her terrified face had haunted him all night; he couldn't sleep because of it. By all accounts, he knew better than this. Ryo knew better than to get anyone else involved with him and his friends.

Keitaro's attack on him yesterday was not anything like what he had expected. Ryo said he'd fight Keitaro and he told Rachel to run. Why had Keitaro gone after her like that? If that bastard hadn't attacked her then none of this would have happened. He wouldn't feel so guilty about getting another innocent person involved…

After what happened between New York and LA…

Ryo shook his head. It was pointless to think on what should have happened instead of what really happened. The others didn't know about the attack or where Ryo had been last night. He didn't know who'd throw the bigger fit when he did finally tell them, but he knew he was in for it.

Right now however… right now he just had to talk to Rachel. Tell her to stay away. Explain himself. Make sure she was okay. Apologize. Do something!

Letting out a long sigh, he pressed the 'up' button on the elevator. The stones that had sat in his stomach now felt like they were rolling. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get himself to calm down. He ran his hands over his face and through his hair, _I've really messed things up_.

The doors of the elevator opened to reveal the vacant box of metal and glass. Stepping inside he pressed the button and watched as the doors closed. The Ronin leader closed his eyes and prayed that she'd be home. Despite the note that he had written at home he would feel ten times better saying things to her face rather than over the phone. Fear that she'd refuse to talk to him also clung to him like Velcro.

Ryo felt the elevator stop before the doors opened onto the tenth floor. He walked out of the elevator and checked the map posted beside it. While he had never been to Rachel's apartment he had heard from Danny which number it was.

_Looks like I'm heading to the left_. Ryo turned on his heels and walked down the hall quietly. _How am I going to do this? Oh hi Rachel sorry about yesterday I'm a Ronin Warrior and I kill bad guys._ He shook his head. _Hardly_.

All too soon he reached the door to her apartment. His nerves began racing again and he wished to all the gods that he did not have to do this. This had been the very last thing he had wanted to happen again. Gathering up what strength he could, Ryo knocked three times on the door.

There was a noise inside that sounded like a herd of elephants running followed by a small thunk. Ryo looked at the window to see a brown cat staring back at him with big eyes. A moment later, another head looked out the window, this orange tabby was an old cat and it looked like it wanted to rip Ryo's head off. He looked back at the door after hearing it unlock.

Rachel opened the door about three inches and looked at him.

There was still a trace of fear in her eyes that made Ryo want to split in two, but he couldn't. "Rachel…Can I talk to you? Please."

She hesitated then opened the door for him. "Alright."

Ryo stepped into the medium sized apartment and looked around as Rachel closed the door behind him. Nothing too fancy but it was still nice; it felt warm if not inviting. He took his shoes off and followed her into the living room.

"Have a seat." She motioned to the small couch against the wall.

Ryo sat on the very soft couch and waited patiently for Rachel to sit somewhere before he would start. When she sat down in the chair beside the sofa he started, "First off I can't tell you how sorry I am about yesterday." He paused but when she said nothing he continued, "I'm not sure how to fully explain everything… The best I can do is to say that I'm the good guy fighting off the bad guys to help keep the mortal world safe. Not really a super hero but-"

Rachel interrupted him, "Are you at all associated with those faceless soldiers in mossy green armor?"

Ryo stared at her for a moment, his mouth open slightly before something clicked. "What?"

"A few years back there was a small army of soldiers in mossy green samurai armor that attacked Kyoto." She looked at him, "The soldiers were talking about taking over the Mortal Realm for someone called Lord Talpa."

Ryo's eyes widened.

"You know what I'm talking about…"

"I do." Ryo admitted. "I'm not associated with the Dynasty Soldiers. I fought a lot of them when I was fifteen, too many to count really, I also fought against Talpa. But how is it that you can remember the soldiers? After they left no one in Tokyo could remember them."

The auburn haired girl shrugged, "I don't know. Only a few people that I know remember what happened back then. It was like everyone else just forgot or acted like we were just mindless teenagers seeking attention." She shook her head, "But I know it did happen because and if I ever forget I just need to look at two of my close friends in Kyoto. They got hurt really bad and they also remember what happened, so I know I'm not completely crazy. I'd like to know how it is that hardly anyone else seems to remember this though."

"I'm not sure, but I can tell you why Kyoto and the rest of Japan was attacked by Talpa." Ryo started at the very beginning.

By the time he had finished it was almost five. He left out almost nothing as he told the story to Rachel of the battles he and the others had faced. Even though this had not been his original plan, the knowledge that Rachel could remember Talpa's final assault on the Mortal Realm struck a strange cord in Ryo.

Rachel was quiet for a while, lost in her own thoughts as she put together everything that was just laid out before her. "You know," She started, "That actually explains a few things from the news about what was going on around that time."

"The black out around Tokyo was a strange cover up to Talpa taking it over." Ryo remembered how they blamed a massive power outage for Tokyo's isolation from Japan when it all started. "The black ice over the volcano from Sun Devil is really the only thing the media never changed."

"Then the gang activity a while later where several cars in downtown Tokyo where trashed, was that when you and Rowen fought against Kayura?"

Ryo nodded. "But like I said, she doesn't remember any of that."

* * *

Sage looked out the window of the living room watching the rain come down. Ryo was late and no one had heard from his since yesterday morning. This was sending off alarm bells in his mind but there was really no way of telling if Ryo was in danger or not.

Mia walked out of the kitchen and all her guests looked at her, save Sage, "Well I was able to talk to Kim."

Now Sage looked at her, "And?"

"She said Ryo went out this morning to see a friend," Mia answered, "Then Kim said that Ryo didn't mention who it was but White Blaze did go with him. She did say though that since Ryo came home late last night he looked really upset about something, but wouldn't say what."

The Ronin where quiet, so Cale voiced his suspicion, "Would Ryo have challenged Keitaro to a lone battle so you four wouldn't be dragged into something else?"

"That is a possibility," Rowen admitted.

"If he did then I'll kill him." Kento stated.

Kayura shook her head, "Somehow I don't think he would do that in the current state the armors are in."

Dais looked at her, "You mean he would be worried about losing control?"

"Wouldn't you?" Kayura looked at Dais then the others in the room.

"This is Ryo we are talking about." Sage reminded Kayura.

Kayura glared at the blonde, "I am aware of that. Don't you remember that he almost burned the forest down during the last spar match?"

Cye decided to intervene before an argument broke out, "Kayura can you sense Ryo?" He asked.

Kayura was quiet for a few minutes before answering, "I don't sense him, but I can sense White Blaze though."

"You can't sense Ryo?" Mia blinked.

"If Ryo is more than a two miles away then I have a hard time sensing him," Kayura admitted, "It's the same for everyone, save for White Blaze."

"Where is he?" Cye asked.

"He is maybe four miles away and coming this way fast," Kayura looked at the ceiling, "He is running and I get the feeling that he is worried."

Sage looked at her, "Worried?"

"Yeah but it's not like a panic kind of worry, more like how you worry when something big is coming up."

* * *

Ryo held onto White Blaze as the tiger ran with both him and Rachel on his back. A new kind of dread began settling in Ryo's stomach as they got closer and closer to the turn off that led to Mia's house. He knew the guys would be mad that he didn't call for their help, or that he never called them after the fight to tell them what happened, but worst of all he feared the reaction he'd get from having Rachel there.

Looking over his shoulder he looked at the hood covered head of the younger girl. Her forehead was pressed against his shoulder as she held onto him tightly; she had been quiet ever since they started heading this way.

_She must be letting everything sink in_, Ryo thought to himself. He turned back to face the road, "We're almost there." He felt her nod in response.

As the turn off came into view Ryo decided to try and call Sage, closing his eyes he reached out for his friend.

_Who's doing that?_ The blonde's voice entered his mind in an echo.

_Sage it's me_.

_Ryo?! Where the hell are you?_ Sage's voice was normal again but with mixed emotions.

Ryo opened his eyes, _White Blaze and I are almost to the turn off_.

_Are you alright?_

_Kinda_, Ryo took a deep breath, _I had a fight last night with Keitaro_.

_You're not hurt are you?_

_No._

_Is White Blaze?_

_No._

_So why do you sound more upset than usual_?

Ryo looked back at Rachel again, _You'll see when I get there. I'll also tell everyone what happened._

_I'll let everyone know._

* * *

Sage turned and looked at everyone, "I just heard from Ryo."

All eyes turned to him.

"He fought Keitaro last night, but he says that both he and White Blaze are okay."

"How does he sound?" Rowen asked.

"Something's wrong but he'll tell us when he gets here."

"Where are they?" Mia asked.

"Probably at the turn off by now with how fast White Blaze runs."

Mia stood up, "I'll start dinner then. They're both probably soaked and the food will be done by the time he gets here."

Kento and Cye looked at her, "Need help?"

"All I can get," Mia answered and the two Ronin followed her into the kitchen.

Sage walked over and sat between Rowen and Kayura, "He's gotten the five of us to fight him now."

Rowen nodded, "I wonder what will happen now? Keitaro might try to go after you and the Warlords." He looked at Kayura.

She nodded, "I'm going back to the Dynasty tonight to see if I can help Sekhmet rummage through the library."

Cale started playing with a pen, "While she and Sekhmet go through the scrolls, Dais and I will stay here to see if Keitaro comes for us."

"And to help train you five for battles to come," Dais added.

"Let's say that Keitaro does attack you and Cale," Sage started, "would he be able to enter the Dynasty to go after Kayura and Sekhmet?"

"No." Dais and Cale said in unison.

"The Dynasty is a place you can only get to if you are taken there," Cale said. "For Keitaro to get there he would have to be from there."

Dais nodded, "No one by the name of Keitaro has been in the Dynasty since before Talpa took it over."

"And we are heading back there now to pick up a few things," Cale announced.

"Don't forget to come back once you're done eating, Kayura." Dais and Cale then headed towards the basement.

* * *

Ryo got off White Blaze then rubbed the tigers back.

"This place is big," Rachel whispered.

"Yeah it belonged to Mia's grandfather, he left it for her in his will." Ryo said before leading the way to the door.

"She lives here with Kayura and Jack, right?" Rachel asked while slowly following him.

He nodded and opened the door, "Jack won't be home until tomorrow."

"Ryo!" Kayura ran over to him then stopped, looking at Rachel, "Um… hello."

Rachel slipped her hood off her head, "Hi." She looked at Kayura, unease settling in her even more.

Ryo hung his soaked jacket on the coat hanger, "Where are the others?"

"In the dining room," Kayura answered slowly.

"Thanks." He waited for Rachel to hang her hoodie up before he lead her into the dining room.

"Ryo are yo--" Kento stopped when he saw Rachel.

Everyone stopped and looked at the young girl, this was clearly not what they expected.

Mia was the one to break the silence, "What happened?" Though she already had a good idea from the look on Ryo's face.

"Rachel was there when I was attacked," Ryo said.

Mia nodded, "I'll get another place setting." With that she walked into the kitchen.

"You were there?" Cye repeated slowly.

Rachel gave a nod, "I was. I saw White Blaze and Ryo run past me, on the opposite side of the street, and well curiosity got the better of me."

"You're not hurt are?" Cye looked at both of them, not sure who to be more worried about.

Ryo shrugged slightly.

"I think I'm okay," Rachel responded.

Mia walked back out with the extra plate settings, "What exactly happened?" She asked looking between the Ronin and the young girl.

After taking his seat between Sage and Kento, Ryo went on explaining yesterday's events to his friends. Only pausing twice for Rachel to add her parts before continuing, "And then after she ran off I went home for the night. Didn't really sleep though."

"Why didn't you call any of us?" Kayura asked.

"The thought didn't cross my mind," Ryo openly admitted.

"Ryo!" Cye scowled at his leader, "What if Keitaro has seriously hurt you?"

"It would not have been the first ti-"

"That you ran off and nearly got yourself hurt or killed." Sage cut him off, "Yeah we are all aware of how often you have done this. But Keitaro is different, he doesn't want our armors so what would stop him from killing you?"

"The same thing that stopped him from killing the four of you."

The three Ronin exchanged glares.

"Don't start fighting." Mia warned, "Look the important thing is that both Ryo and Rachel are unharmed."

Sage closed his eyes and returned to the meal Mia had prepared them.

Ryo gladly took the bowel Cye had offered him then said, "Keitaro has attacked all five of us now." He looked at Kayura, "We still don't know if he will go after you and the Warlords or not."

Kayura nodded, "We know. Sekhmet and I are going to stay in the Dynasty for a little while. Cale and Dais will be around Tokyo to see if Keitaro will really go after them."

Kento said, "Let's say that somehow Keitaro found a way into the Neather Realm. Do you think you'd stand up to him with no memory of how to fight like you used to?"

"I do not know." Kayura shrugged, "My mind doesn't remember what I did, or how, yet my body does."

"That in itself is a good thing." Rowen looked at his former rival, "If your body still remembers how to fight then you could probably mop the floor with Keitaro."

Kayura gave a sheepish smile.

Mia set a bowel before Rachel, who accepted it with a thank you. "What you should all think about now," Mia began, "Is how you are going to protect each other, Kayura, Yuli, and now Rachel. You are still free to use my house as a base if you really need it. However, now that the five of you did get attacked Keitaro might leave."

"Let's hope so," Kento voiced.

Ryo decided to speak up, "Mia as much as I appreciate your offer to let us use your home, I think this is something we should try at _all_ coasts to leave you out of." At all the eyes on him he said, "Look you're a married woman now and you don't need all of us in this place with you and Jack. We have our own places in the city we can use."

"Training may be the only hard thing to figure out," Sage jumped in, "We could use the dojo if we just did basic combat with no powers."

Kento raised an eyebrow, "Then what could we do to use our powers?"

"You could try doing little things during the day." Rachel said quietly, "I mean, if you are on your lunch breaks or something maybe there is a way..."

"That's not a bad idea." Rowen nodded, "We can use our powers at work if we do stick to small things. Ryo can use his at his leaser since he doesn't have a job."

Ryo groaned, "Maybe it's better I don't."

Kento blinked, "What? Have a job or use your powers?"

"Both."

"Ryo." Mia looked at him, "You need to practice so you can gain control, you know that."

"I do. However the chance of burning down the house isn't comforting."

"Maybe you should go down to the beach with me and Kento during the late hours?" Cye offered. "Being in the middle of water you can't burn much."

"I might make it boil."

"Ryo I'm sure you'll come to control it," Mia looked at the young man worried. "You do have some control, this attack was new to you but you didn't hurt White Blaze or Rachel. There wasn't even anything on the news about it."

Ryo's eyes visibly darkened, "I'm grateful about that, though I do not want to use that tornado of white fire again. I don't like it."

"Don't like it because you don't know it, or don't like it because White Blaze and I are the reason you used it?"

He turned his attention to Rachel, "Both."

"Um.. I might have an idea"

Everyone looked at Kayura.

"Well in the Neather Realm I've seen a spell to alter memories. If this bothers you and Rachel so much I'm sure one of the Warlords can help me cast it on you two. You won't have to remember why you called that white tornado, or that Rachel was in danger, and you Rachel wouldn't need to remember any of it."

"What?" Ryo blinked in shock.

"Hey I'm not the only one who can see how badly last night has bothered you two. I'm just the only one to say it out loud. So if you two want to forget a little of what happened-"

"Pray tell what is to stop Keitaro from doing it again or bringing it up?" Rowen asked, already seeing a hole in this.

Kayura fell silent.

Ryo let out a sigh.

"I'm not sure it would have worked anyways." Rachel said, "I mean, if I can forget the attack this Talpa launched on Japan a few years ago then who is to say I'd forget last night?"

"You've got a point there," Kayura admitted.

Mia went to say something before she was rudely interrupted by a loud crack of lightning and thunder.

Then the power went out.

"Well this is just a great topping for the night." Kento remarked.

"Every time there is a thunderstorm I lose power!" Mia grumbled.

There was a jingle of metal before the small flashlight on Cye's keychain illuminated the room, "Is everyone okay?"

"Just startled," Kayura said.

Sage looked around, "I will never get over how dark it is out here with no moon."

"Shouldn't you be used to darkness by now?" Kento looked at his blonde friend.

"Being used to or not, doesn't mean I have to like it."

Mia looked at Cye, "May I?"

"Sure." Cye handed her his keychain.

Taking the keychain, the lady of the house walked to the closest window and looked out into the raging storm. "I'm not sure it's a safe idea for you guys to go home in this weather," She informed them.

"Are our old rooms still okay to be used?" Sage asked.

"Yes." She looked at Rachel, "Um Kayura is leaving soon so you can use her room."

Rachel looked at Kayura who nodded, "It's fine."

"Thank you."

"We better fumble our way up the stairs," Rowen sighed.


	18. Pin Point

**Magic**

Chapter Eighteen: Pin Point

* * *

Mia glared at the computer screen before her. Frustration settled in about an hour ago and now she was getting angry, it really shouldn't be that hard to find data on what Keitaro could possibly be. Even though the list she had composed last night seemed almost endless this guy just had to be something on it. Demon seemed the most likely one right now since everything else was just way too complex to pin him with that.

Looking to the clock on her screen, Mia decided it was time for a much-needed break. She also needed to check on the boys downstairs and call Jack to see how his family was holding up. Turning the monitor off, the young woman stood up and walked out of her office.

White Blaze was outside her door and greeted her by nudging her hip with his head.

"Hello White Blaze," Mia smiled and stroked the tigers head. "Are they all still outside?"

The tiger scoffed then headed to the stairs.

"I guess the rain chased them all back in." Mia followed White Blaze and sure enough, she found Rowen and Sage at the large table.

Sage looked up at her, "Did you find anything?"

Mia shook her head, "No. I've looked through all the data I've collected over the years, while I have a few ideas what Keitaro could be I'm not sure he really 'fits' any of them. It's looking to me more and more that he is a demon of some kind." She sat down beside Rowen, "The problem with that is demonology is so wide I don't even know were I would start."

"Is there anything Sage or I can do to help?"

"Thanks Rowen. I'm not sure right now though."

Kayura walked into the room from the hallway, "I'm back."

"Any luck?" Rowen asked.

"Yeah, bad luck. There are a lot of beings in the Neather Realm with powers similar to Keitaro however the few I've talked to haven't heard of him."

"So we are still in square one." Sage closed his eyes, "With no idea what Keitaro is, it will be hard to find a way to defeat him. Demon or not."

Kayura looked at the blonde, "Hey Sage would your family, or Cye's, have any stories about demons like that?"

Sage opened his eyes, "I don't think so. The only one I ever heard was about Talpa, I could call in and ask though." He looked at Mia.

She nodded, "You know you are all free to use my phone at any time."

"Cye is in the living room with Kento, Ryo, and Rachel." Rowen informed Kayura.

Kayura nodded and then walked out of the dining room.

"You're family wouldn't know any possibilities, would they?" Mia looked at Rowen.

The tall man shrugged, "I doubt it. If I had to guess the only family that really has a good chance of knowing it would be the Sanada's but Ryo can't really ask them since, according to their customs, he doesn't exist."

"Yeah and his father doesn't strike me as the kind who'd know things like that." Sage added.

"Me either."

White Blaze sat by the door and watched the three humans talking. He really wanted to tell them everything about Keitaro but it would ruin things. While he did not agree with the way Keitaro was doing this, he did know it was going to be for the best. Though he wanted to rip the man's arm off for bringing innocents into all this. Granted Mia and Yuli had been through all this before, but that didn't change anything.

* * *

"Stories on what Keitaro could be?" Cye repeated the question.

Kayura nodded, "Yes. Mia and I can't find anything, yet it looks more and more like Keitaro is really a demon. Demonology is a vast area so I thought that it may be easy to start with stories in families."

Kento nodded, "That kinda makes sense."

"I'll have to call my mother to ask." Cye said.

"Don't ask me," Ryo set his drink down.

Kayura looked at Rachel, "Have you heard of any demons like that while you lived in Kyoto?"

Cye, Kento, and Ryo glanced at the girl.

"No," Rachel shook her head, "Not like this. But... I know someone who might. My best friend is very much into the paranormal so I can call her up after I get home."

Kayura nodded.

"You can use my phone if you would like." Mia offered.

Rachel looked at her, "Are you sure? I'll probably have to leave her a message."

"Is she at work?" Mia asked.

"No this is her day off, she has one of those new cellular phones and she wont answer the phone if she doesn't know the number."

Cye looked at Rachel, "Unless you want to leave I don't think we are going anywhere today in this weather."

"Mia has to go to the airport." Ryo reminded his friend. "Jack's plane will take off in an hour."

Mia looked at Ryo, "A half-hour."

Rachel shrugged, "Okay I'll give Sileny a call."

Kayura blinked, "That's an unusual name."

Rachel giggled and stood up, "Where is the phone?"

Mia pointed to the kitchen. "In there, Sage is using it at the moment."

"Okay, Cye why don't you go next when he's done?"

Cye nodded, "Alright. I might be a little longer than Sage though."

Rachel shrugged, "That's fine."

* * *

Sage leaned against the wall, his eye focused on the rain sliding down the window. Satsuki had told him she would get their mom since everyone else was busy. That was more than fine with him anyways, his mother and father were probably more worried for him than anyone else back home, it would be good to assure them that he was fine. Or rather as fine as he could be.

"_Sage_?"

"Hello mother."

"_I've been worried. Are you alright_?"

Sage nodded, "I'm okay." He glanced over when Rowen entered the kitchen, "Everyone say's hello."

"_Hello to everyone. Are they doing alright? No one's hurt_?"

"Not physically," He answered, "We are having a problem with something though."

"_How can I help_?"

"We are trying to figure out what kind of being our foe, Keitaro, is. Kayura and Mia have suggested we ask our families if there are any legends about something like him."

"_What can he do_?"

"A lot of things." Sage began explaining to her the different encounters they had with Keitaro and what went down.

"_Is your friend Yuli alright_?"

"Yes, thank gods, had Yuli been hurt in anyway Keitaro would have died. Between the five of us I'm not sure who's more protective of him."

"Ryo is." Rowen said then held up a bottle of orange juice, pointed to it then looked at Sage.

Sage nodded to Rowen, "Rowen thinks it's Ryo, I think it's a tie between Ryo and Kento."

"_I see. What about this new girl, Rachel, is she alright_?"

He could hear the hidden meaning behind that question, "Rachel is as okay as can be expected. She has openly admitted that she is terrified, but she's staying pretty strong."

"_That is good_." His mother paused, "_I cannot think of a creature like Keitaro off the top of my head but I'll go through the family library and see if there is anything in there. I shall also talk to your grandparents and your father._"

"Thanks mother, if you find something call the apartment. We are leaving here in a few hours to head back to Tokyo."

"_Alright. I may not be able to call you back until after dinner tonight_."

"I understand and don't worry, I don't plan to go anywhere tonight."

"_Just because you don't plan on it doesn't mean it wont happen_."

"I know mother."

"_I will let you go now Sage. As your mother, I urge you to be careful. I love you and I don't want you hurt. I hope you don't think of me as over bearing-_"

"I have never thought of you that way mother." Sage interrupted, he knew that was very disrespectful of his mother but the point had to get across. "I love you too, and I understand that this is just as hard on you and the family as it is on me."

"_Thank you Seiji_."

He could almost see her smile, "You are welcome mother. Please give the family my best."

They both hug up.

Rowen handed Sage a glass of orange juice, "She okay?"

Sage nodded and took the glass, "She is going to see what she can find and call later."

Nodding Rowen looked over, "Hi Cye."

Cye looked at them, "Mia is going to leave in an hour and a half to get Jack."

"Okay. I'm done of the phone if you need to use it."

"Thank you." Cye picked the phone up and started dialing the number.

"You want some juice Cye?" Rowen asked, holding up his glass.

"No thank you. Orange juice and I don't get along very well."

Rowen set the glass back on the counter, "Oh yeah I forgot that it gives you heartburn."

Cye shrugged, "Hello sister dear, is mom where I can talk to her?"

"_She is right next to me here_."

"_Cye_."

He smiled, "Hello mom. You sound well."

"_It's a good day so far. How are you and your friends holding up? Sayoko told me what happened while she was there_."

"As well as can be expected, Yuli's alright from what I can tell."

"_Thank goodness. Has this enemy left you all in peace yet_?"

"No." He heard her sigh, "The thing is that as he attacks us he wont give us a reason why he is doing this. At least not one that we really believe is true."

"_I see_._ I wish there was something I can do to help._"

"There might be. We are trying to figure out what Keitaro is exactly. Mia has looked all over to data and she is pretty sure he is some kind of demon, she's just not sure what kind."

"_Demonology is a vast area_." His mother said, "_I'm not sure where to tell her to start_."

"Kayura thinks a good spot t start is with family legends. You and my grandparents knew about the armor, maybe they know one with a demon like Keitaro?"

"_I will ask them when we go over there later, your uncle is having a big dinner party at his house tonight_."

"Give everyone there my best."

"_I will, the hard part is giving them reason not to go to Tokyo and drag you back home_."

"Hi mommy number two!" Kento said into the earpiece.

Cye winced, "Kento that _was_ my ear."

Mrs. Mori giggled, "_Tell him hello for me dear_."

"Mom say's hi."

"Kento that was just rude." Sage glared at his friend.

Kento stuck his tongue out at the blonde.

"Anyways," Cye shook his head, "When you find out later will you call over to the apartment? I might not be home though."

"_If you are not home I will leave a message_." His mother said.

* * *

Mia glanced at the clock, she had to leave soon. "I guess you'll need to call your friend later." She looked at Rachel.

The young girl shrugged a shoulder, "That's fine. She'll be more inclined to answer if I call from home anyways." Rachel shifted her weight in the seat then looked at Ryo, "Can I get your number so I can call you after I talk to her?"

Ryo nodded, "I'll give you everyone's number incase I don't pick up." He reached over and opened the desk to find the paper and pencil.

"Thanks Ryo."

"You're welcome."

Rowen walked into the room, "Cye's almost done talking with his mother." He said to Mia.

She nodded, "He can take as long as he needs. They are close to each other so I've no room to boot him off the phone. Beside I can leave at anytime, Kayura does know how to work the lock."

Kayura nodded, "I'll probably go back to the Neather Realm after you leave though. There are other things there I need to take care of, I just came here to give you all an update."

White Blaze sniffed Kayura's pocket and made a noise.

"Oh! I almost forgot about those. Thanks White Blaze." Kayura reached into her pocket.

"What are they?" Rowen asked, watching the blue haired girl.

Kayura pulled out five shards of what appeared to be mirrors. "A type of communicator Sekhmet found in the library." She handed one to Rowen and tossed another to Ryo.

Ryo held it up.

"Looks like you broke a mirror." Rachel commented.

"That's because they are mirrors," Kayura said.

"You broke a mirror?" Kento poked his head into the room, "That's supposed to be bad luck."

"I didn't break it, the shards just look like this because the crafter has no imagination." Kayura handed one to Kento. "Don't loose these please, it takes a while to make more of them."

"They're enchanted?" Mia asked.

Kayura nodded, "When Sage and Cye get in here I'll give the full explanation. I really don't want to go over this twice."

"Okay." Mia stood up. "I'm going to head out now, don't forget to lock up when you are done."

"We won't." Ryo said.

"I'll make sure everything is locked tight before I go back," Kayura assured her.

"Thank you." She looked from Kayura to Ryo, "Call me when you know something."

Ryo didn't want to but he nodded anyways.

Mia walked out of the room and headed to the front door.

Kento looked from the door to Ryo, "You're not really going to call her are you?"

"I don't know at this point," Ryo answered.

Rachel frowned, "You should call her so that she at least knows your all still alive at the least."

Ryo looked at her.

"She's right." Kayura agreed.

Sage walked into the room and looked around, "Mia left."

Kento nodded, "She said to lock up before we left."

"Here." Kayura handed a shard to Sage.

"…" He took it and raised an eyebrow, "What is this for?"

"I'll give the full explanation when Cye is done." Kayura said.

Sage gave a nod.

As if on que, Cye walked into the room, "I saw Mia drive off, hopefully the roads aren't too bad."

"I'm sure her jeep can handle almost anything by now." Ryo said.

"Here." Kayura handed Cye the last shard.

"What is this for?"

"I can give a full explanation now," Kayura took a deep breath, "Since you can't really communicate with the Warlords or myself in the Neather Realm using your minds yet, these mirror shards will allow you to contact us through a window or mirror. You just say who you want to talk to then hold it to a mirror or window of any size and we'll be able to see you with the nearest mirror or window."

"Why mirrors? I'll be using windows." Kento said.

"Mirrors are gateways." Rachel and Kayura said in unison. Then they looked at each other.

Rowen raised an eyebrow, "Okay how do you know that Rachel?"

Rachel looked at him, "I do know a few things about magic."

"Know anything that might help us?" Kento asked.

"I'm not sure if it would or not. The magic I know about is European."

"Oh."

"Back to the mirrors," Rowen put in, "Will you and the Warlords contact us in the same way?"

"No. If we find something we either have to wait for one of you to contact us, or I'll hunt you down and tell you myself." She pointed to the shard he was holding, "These are the only ones we have found and they will only work to talk to the Neather Realm. So you can't talk to each other this way."

Rowen nodded.

"We should all start heading out," Cye said, "It looks like the storm it letting up."

"Rachel, you want a ride?" Kento asked.

"Please."

"Mind if I grab one too?" Ryo asked.

"Of course not."

* * *

Rachel stood at the door to her apartment, "What a time this has been." She said to herself before entering her apartment. "I'm home!" She called.

Pumpkin and Espresso came running out of the kitchen and right for her, both mewing.

"I missed you too." She said as she took off her shoes. "I need a shower.." Walking across the room she picked up the cordless phone and went into the bathroom.

"Hm three missed calls." Moving the buttons on the phone she saw that work, Bue, and Danny where the only ones that called her. "They can wait."

"Mew."

"Mow."

"Hm?" She looked over, "Oh you two need water." She knelt down, turned the bathtub water on, then picked up the two water dishes. After setting the now full water dishes down, Rachel took the phone off her lap and dialed a number. _Please be home_.

"_Hello_?"

"Hi Sileny."

"_Hey… wait are you in the bathroom_?"

"I'm getting ready for a bath."

"_Long day today_?"

"Kinda, I was hanging out with some new friends all night in the rainy weather. I figured to just bathe when I got home."

"_Hopefully you don't get sick_."

"That'd be just my luck at this point."

"_What do you mean_?"

"Never mind. Um I have a strange question for you."

"_I'll probably have a strange answer_."

"So one of my friends is reading a book and there is a main character in-"

"_This isn't a romance is it_?" Sileny asked annoyed.

"Heck no this is a horror story."

"_Okay go on_."

Rachel turned the water off, "He's about half way through the book and can't figure out what kind of creature the villain is. This guy kinda does things like a demon or something."

"_You want to pick at my brain to see if I know what it is_?"

"That okay?"

"_Of course it is. What kind of stuff does this guy do_?"

"Well he likes to toy with his um victims using things against them-"

"_Typical bad guy_."

"Yeah but how many demons or whatever do you know of that disappear like mist, can command the four basic elements, are able to silence all sounds, and run away after one or two hits?"

"_Can control all four elements you said_?"

"Yes."

"_Hm.. I don't know of any kind of demon that can do that. Do they call him a demon_?"

"Not really…"

"_The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is some kind of sorcerer_."

"A sorcerer?"

"_Yeah. Magic isn't really limited by anything other than the imagination. You should know that by now just from hanging around me_."

"I guess that kinda escaped my mind."

Sileny chuckled on the other end of the phone. "_Take your bath and call me when you are done_."

"I will. Bye." Rachel hung up and set the phone beside the bath. Taking her shirt off she looked at her reflection in the mirror. "A sorcerer huh and no limits to magic huh?" Throwing her shirt into the hamper she decided it was time to tell the boys something else about herself and in turn, help them with this problem.

Looking over at her two cats she sighed and said, "I've got a lot to do before hitting that pillow tonight."


	19. Advance

**Magic**  
Chapter Nineteen: Advance

* * *

"Hi everyone!" Satsuki's voice echoed off the walls of the dojo room.

Everyone stopped their head on spar against each other and looked at the young Date girl. Sage let out a sigh, "Satsuki…"

Kento was the first to let his weapon down, "Hey Satsuki. Don't you work today?"

"No. It's my day off so I came to see how you all were holding up." Her eye settled on her big brother, "Is that okay?"

Sage nodded, "It's okay."

"Let's take a breather," Rowen said. Everyone agreed and the boys sat down on the cool floor, a nice welcome from a few hours of sparring.

Grabbing the water bottles, Satsuki walked over to the tired group. "How long have you guys been doing this?"

Cye smiled tiredly, "Oh since about ten."

"With a break for lunch," Kento quickly added.

She shook her head and handed out the water, "You'll push yourselves hard." Eyeing her brother, "You know grandpa taught you to pace yourself."

Sage gave his sister a warning look.

Satsuki returned it with a glare, "I know it's important but I don't think you want an ice bath."

Ryo jumped in, "Satsuki how was your day at school?"

"Hm? Oh it was okay-" She snapped her fingers and opened her bag, before plopping on the floor between her brother and Cye. "Rachel asked me to give you guys something." She pulled out a small folder.

"What is it?" Rowen asked.

"I didn't look," Satsuki looked at him, "Rachel said she thinks it will help you guys with Keitaro."

"She said that specifically..?" Ryo asked slowly.

Satsuki nodded, "Yeah. She looked kinda upset about something at school so I asked what was wrong. I quote, "I found out something very unexpected about Ryo and his friends." I knew that could only mean one of two things."

"And they are?"

"Either she thinks the five of you are gay or she found out about the armor."

Ryo set his water down and looked at the floor.

Cye took the folder from Satsuki and opened it, "Wow Rachel has nice handwriting."

"What's she say?" Kento took a swig of water.

"She says that her friend Sileny in Kyoto thinks that Keitaro is…" Cye's brow frowned.

Rowen looked at him, "Is what?"

"A sorcerer."

"A sorcerer," Ryo repeated.

Cye nodded, "Rachel say's that she's written out for us a few things following European magic that is linked to our elements, she's just not sure if it will help or not."

Kento raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know Rachel knew magic."

Ryo said off-handedly, "She has a computer so I bet she could have looked it up."

Cye opened up the metal holdings of the binder, "She's got three pages each for us."

Sage looked at the papers, "I wonder how long this all took her?"

"Hopefully not more than a few minutes," Kento said, "I think she had to work last night after we dropped her off."

Cye handed out the papers to his friends. "We need to thank her, she didn't need to do this."

Satsuki looked at them, "She works today so go pay her a visit."

"We'll see." Ryo said, he looked up when White Blaze wandered into the room, "Have a good nap?"

The large tiger responded with a large yawn.

"Hi White Blaze," Satsuki held her hand out to the giant house cat.

White Blaze walked over and nudged his head against her hand, welcoming the scratching that followed suit.

Ryo smiled, "Satsuki stop domesticating him."

"I'm not the one feeding him," she was quick to point out.

Kento blinked and looked at the ground, "Um am I nuts or did the ground just vibrate?"

Rowen looked at Kento, "What?"

White Blaze sniffs the air and started growling, looking around the room with pinned ears.

Sage looked at his sister, "Satsuki get out of here."

Satsuki got up and ran to the door, the moment she was on the other side of the door it slammed shut.

Ryo and the others stood up, "Come on out."

"You're games of hide and seek are getting old, Keitaro." Rowen glared.

Glass over the lights above them shattered, a shockwave split the boys apart, sending each other into a different part of the room. The ground beneath them shot up, dividing the large room many times over.

Sage glared, "Keitaro your games are getting old too. Stop hiding and show yourself!"

"If you morons would just look up, you'll find that I'm in plain sight."

They looked up to see their enemy standing on the ceiling. Keitaro looked at them one by one before speaking again, "I'm glad to see you are all ready for more fighting. You're all so entertaining it's like I'm forming a habit that will be a hard one to drop."

Rowen glared, "We'll give you a great reason to drop us."

"Your drive to defeat me before I cause utter chaos?" Keitaro smirked, "Look I've no intention of ruling the world-that's way too much responsibility. I honestly don't understand why so many lords and ladies of high power desire more than they can give."

"Then what are you really after?" Kento asked, gripping his fists.

"How many times will you five make me repeat myself?"

"Until we actually believe you!" Cye responded.

Keitaro allowed himself a sigh, "I can see this may take some time. Now how to prove it?" He stroked his chin.

White Blaze roared loudly, the sound echoed off the walls.

Glaring Keitaro snapped his fingers and a surge of energy broke out from the walls, launching out at everyone. "I won't take being talked back to." He looked at White Blaze, "Even by a walking tiger-skin rug."

Ryo glared, and through his pain, slammed his fist against the wall separating him from his friends. There was a surge of heat from where his fist met the wall, to Ryo's surprise, the heat spread quickly along the walls.

_Ryo what did you do_? Sage asked.

_I don't know_. He responded, _I got mad an-whoa_! Ryo shielded himself as the wall cracked and then crumbled to the ground.

* * *

Keitaro leapt onto the roof of the building a few blocks over from the dojo. Looking down at his hand he opened the closed it slowly, _My powers are trying to wavier_, he realized. He knew why wood could hurt him but he hadn't been vulnerable to stones before. This was bad.

_Everything I do from here out must count_!

Arrows landed in the ground beside him and Keitaro spun around in time to dodge another aimed at his head.

"Are you leaving the party already, Keitaro?" Kento asked, twirling his weapon.

"I thought I'd find us a vast area to 'party' as you say." Keitaro held his hand out to the side, "Unless you'd rather fight here and get all the innocent citizens of Edo involved?"

Sage glared, "We are not following you into a trap!"

Keitaro chuckled and shook his head, "I have no traps set for you. Ryo there already destroyed the only one I had time to create."

Ryo held his two swords close to him, "Looks like we have you on the spot."

"We're going to stop your fun and games with us today." Kento declared.

Their enemy raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

_Watch yourselves_, Ryo said to anyone who could hear him.

Keitaro moved his outstretched hand swiftly across his chest and a massive blast of wind was sent spinning towards the Ronin.

Déjà vu sunk in, as the five found themselves twisting inside a tornado, before getting thrown through the roof of a nearby abandoned building.

Cye groaned and sat up, "Kento," He glared at the Hardrock warrior, "Don't ever bait someone like that again!"

"Like you weren't thinking the same thing." Kento retorted before getting off Ryo's back.

"Not now you two," Sage warned.

A clanking noise drew the ronins attention to the rafters twenty feet above them.

Keitaro was walking along a beam with his arm crossed, "I had not planned to play my more advanced games for a few days. But since the five of you think you are all far more than capable of getting rid of me," he turned to look down at them, "I'll move it up while I still have time."

Rowen glared, _while he still has time_?

Keitaro took a pin out of his belt and threw it at the ground below. The ground below the ronin began shaking before splitting to seven parts each part kept shaking violently.

_What is he doing?!_ Ryo leapt to another piece of land, it crumbled as soon as his foot connected to it so he stuck his sword into the wall.

Sage almost fell with one of the pillars holding the building up, but Kento managed to grab his arm. The Halo warrior followed Ryo's example and used his sword as a pushpin.

Cye and Rowen on the other hand, made to up to the rafters and ran along them making their way to Keitaro. Keitaro had to once more dodge Rowen's accurate aim before Cye hit him hard with a nameless attack. The sudden jet of water knocked Keitaro off the rafter.

_Did we get him_? Sage looked at Rowen and Cye.

Before either could answer Keitaro had balled the water beneath him, he was now floating in the air. The water beneath him soon looked like a rapid about ready to explode.

_Cye what are you doing to the water_?

_Kento, that's not me_!

"Look out!" Rowen yelled.

The water below Keitaro exploded out of the ball form and all the ronin where knocked down into the shaking ruble below. Keitaro moved his hand again and ground became liquid, drawing the ronin deep into the swirling cement and mud.

Sage grabbed hold of a pipe sticking out from the ground and used it as an anchor, turning he reached out with his sword. Kento grabbed hold of the blade, rammed his tetsubo into what felt like solid ground, then he let go of Sage's sword and swung around grabbing hold of Rowen's armor and pulled him up from the whirlpool. Cye and Ryo grabbed a hold of Sage's armor.

_Somebody do something_! Sage's voice range in their heads.

_I've got an open shot_! Rowen pulled back on his bow and shot two arrows at Keitaro.

Keitaro managed to dodge the first one but the second planted itself right in his right shoulder. Wincing he snapped the arrow in half, not bothering to look at the ronin he didn't see Sage throw Ryo up from the swirling mess that was created. However, Keitaro did look back in time to call a spear and clash metal with Ryo's swords. His concentration now fixated on Ryo, the vortex of cement and mud below stopped.

Rowen and Kento were the first ones to jump up to Ryo's aid, weapons at the ready.

They are faster than I had originally thought. Keitaro formed a chain whip, throwing it out he succeeded in wrapping their legs together. Because he was also clashing weapons with Ryo while holding Rowen and Kento down, he didn't see Sage come up behind him. He did however feel the Sword of Halo slash his back and grunted in pain. Out of nowhere Cye emerged and when all his friends moved, Cye shot Keitaro with a massive amount of water.

Keitaro actually hit the wall on the other side of the building.

Eve Cye was surprised by the force of the attack.

"Can you do that again?" Kento asked his friend.

"I don't know, maybe." Cye answered.

"I vote we don't give him the opportunity to have you try it." Ryo stated.

"Then let's send him home." Rowen pulled back on his bow then let the arrow fly.

Keitaro winced when the arrow cut his arm and pinned his kimono against the wall. This was not how things were supposed to be going. Turning back to the ronin he glared, "I will forfeit this match."

He then faded away before another arrow hit him.

Ryo glared daggers at the spot where Keitaro once stood. "I'm getting really tired of him showing up, trying to kill us, and just leaving."

"Yeah some game player he is." Kento agreed.

Rowen held out his hand and the arrow came flying back to him, "Well if it helps we got a souvenir from him." The Ronin of Strata removed a piece of fabric.

"Keitaro's kimono," Cye stated.

"And what are we going to do with that?" Kento asked.

Sage took the fabric off the arrow, "Well from what I can tell the fabric is from before the Warring States Period."

Ryo raised an eyebrow, "Do I want to know how you can tell?"

"Grandmother."

"Enough said on that part, but again, what do we do with it?" Kento repeated.

Cye said, "Is there a way to track him with this?"

"Kayura or Dais may know one," Rowen answered.

"Let's go to the roof and figure out where we are." Ryo said, "We'll go to the house that's closest then call Kayura with one of the mirrors."

"Sounds good," Sage agreed.

* * *

Kayura sat at the table examining the piece of fabric in her hand, "It feels really old, almost like a few threads are all that's keeping it together."

Cye set a cup of tea down for her, "Sage thinks it's from before the time of the Warring States."

"By the count of thread I'd agree," Kayura looked up, "Thank you. Are you guys sure you're not hurt or anything?"

"Just a few bruises but nothing we can't handle," Kento said.

Kayura nodded, though she still found it hard not to worry.

"Do you know of a way to use this as a tracker?" Rowen asked.

"I know of a way but not how it works. There is a method used called scrying and it helps locate things or find meanings in dreams or vision. Sekhmet told me about it but neither he nor the other two know how to do it."

Ryo looked at her, "Did you ask Mia or Jack?"

Kayura nodded, "Mia hadn't heard of it before but Jack has heard of it too, all I got out of him was that scrying usually deals with fire or water."

Sage looked at Cye, "Mind if we use the computer?"

Cye looked at him, "Go right ahead."

"So this is the only way you know of to track things with magic?" Ryo looked at Kayura.

"It's all I can find. I could look more but the library in the Nether Realm is so vast it could take me a few weeks."

"Time we may or may not have." Rowen looked over at Sage, "Find anything?"

"Not that's useful," Turning he said, "Scrying is a form of divination, it really can't help us. It's like looking into a crystal ball."

Kento sighed, "Bang went our only lead."

Cye thought for a moment, "Maybe not."

"Do you know something Cye?" Ryo asked.

"No but I thought Rachel might," he shrugged, "She did make those folders for us and admitted to knowing some things about magic."

"Where is she?" Kayura asked looking at them.

Ryo looked at the time, "Chances are she is still at work," Looking back at his friends he said, "I have her phone number so we can call and leave a message. Better that then getting weird looks in the tea house."

Rowen nodded, "And if she doesn't know something then you just might have to go to the library." He looked at Kayura.

"It might be good if I did that anyways, if he is a sorcerer like Rachel's friend thinks then he could be able to avoid detection."

"Go on and use the phone Ryo, if she calls here Kento and I will talk to her and send you the info."

Ryo stood up, "Thanks man." Walking by the kitchen Ryo picked up the phone, taking a number out of his pocket he began dialing. He waited.

"_Hi you've reached Rachel, I'm obviously not home. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can_."

BEEP.

"Hey Rachel it's Ryo, I'm guessing your still at work. When you get home I need you to call one of us, even if it's after midnight. We are trying to figure out something and hope that you may have an answer. Talk to you soon." He hung up.

"I wonder how Rachel knows magic?" Kayura asked allowed.

"I'm no-whoa!" Ryo jumped as the phone rang in his hand.

"Jumpy?" Kayura asked.

"We have reason to be," Cye walked over and took the phone from Ryo. "Hello?"

"_Cye_?"

"Rachel. Wow that was a fast return, did you just get home from work?"

"_No I'm on my break. My friend Sileny is at my place and she called me to say Ryo phoned._"

"She didn't pick up for him.."

"_I know that, my answering machine was set to speaker. So what's going on_?"

Cye pushed a button on the phone, "Okay you're on the speaker. Everyone's here?"

"…_Is everyone okay_?"

"We ran into Keitaro an hour ago," Ryo said.

"_I repeat, is everyone okay_?" This time she sounded very worried.

"Nothing we can't handle," Sage assured her. "Rachel we wanted to ask you something about magic."

She paused, "_My knowledge is limited but okay_."

"Do you know of any way to track someone using magic?" Ryo asked.

"_Not off the top of my head, but I do know you'd need something of the person you're trying to track_."

Rowen said, "We have a piece of fabric from Keitaro's kimono. It got stuck on one of my arrows today."

"_Then you already have step one down, don't Kayura or.. oh what's are their names_.."

Kayura couldn't stop the smile, "The only thing we had an idea for tracking turned out to be something for divination."

"_What was it_?"

"Scrying." Sage and Ryo said in unison.

"_Well that could be used for tracking but I don't think it would be a clear answer.._" She paused again, "_Hey I'm off in four hours and Sileny knows more about magic than I do. I'll ask her then call later. Is that okay_?"

"That's fine," Ryo looked around at the others, "I'm sure we'll still be here then."

"_Alright. Oh before I go did Satsuki gives you guys the folders_?"

Kento said, "Yeah but we left them at the dojo."

"I'm going to pick them up in the morning," Sage said to everyone.

"_I just wanted to be sure you got them. I'll call you guys in a few hours_." Then she hung up.

* * *

Keitaro hovered in the air, holding his shoulder. "A sorcerer huh? I've been called many things but never that." Removing his hand he gazed upon the large hole left by the Arrow of Strata.

"This wound won't heal." He sighed and looked back to the window of the apartment, "Their powers are advancing, even though they aren't aware of it, but I don't think it's nearly enough."

Looking up at the sky he faintly saw the outline of the first stars, "I only have a month left. There is no way these boys will be ready in time."


	20. Tiger Tyger

**Magic**

Chapter Twenty: Tiger Tyger

* * *

Stopping at a red light, Rachel let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes. Sleep hadn't come easily the night before between her endless amount of homework and the adrenaline rush from getting that house. _I am so looking forward to the end of the day_! _Sileny and I can get our light things into that house. I just hope she can find some cheap movers to help with the big things_.

"Hm.. I wonder if I should tell the guys that I'm moving in with a friend?" She asked allowed. A growling sound caught her attention and Rachel looked to her right, she blinked, "White Blaze."

The large tiger ran up to her at near full speed, stopping only a few feet from her. His large brown eyes looked at her then grabbed her book bag; he started pulling her to the direction he came from.

"Hey what the?" She grabbed a hold of the strap, "What Blaze! What's wrong?"

White Blaze gave a soft roar and kept pulling on the bag, trying not to tear the fabric in his teeth.

Out of the corner of her eye Rachel saw the light change for her to go. She bit her lip _I have that science test today_…Looking back at White Blaze she swallowed, "Alright but this better not be for something silly."

White Blaze let go of her bag and positioned himself beside her. He looked at her then at his back, then back to her again.

Blue eyes widened, "You want me to ride you?!"

The tiger nodded.

"Oh boy…" Rachel shifted. Yes she had ridden him before but she had someone to hold on to, not to mention she was in pants and not a skirt. She swung her leg around the tigers back and gripped his fur. "I'll apologize now if I grip too tight."

White Blaze roared then took off back from where he came.

Rachel held on tighter as the white cat below her gained speed. She had no idea where he was taking her but something told her it was important. _I'll make up the test later_.

They passed a few shops before White Blaze jumped onto a parked Subaru, then to the top of a truck, and the next thing Rachel knew they were on the roof of a building. Leaping across one rooftop to the next they stopped short of two large apartment towers before White Blaze leapt down to the ground.

"Where are we?" Rachel asked looking around, "Wait a minute. I know that motorcycle!" She slid off the tiger, "White Blaze why did you bring me to Sage and Rowen's apartment?"

White Blaze nudged the girls hip before leading her across the parking lot to the stairs.

She followed him up the stairs and along the corridor until they reached a door, "White Blaze?"

The tiger looked at the door, stood on his hind legs and gave a growl. When the door began opening he got back down on all fours, reached over and took hold of Rachel's book bag again then led her inside.

"Hello?" Rachel called out but got no answer. "Well that's not a good sign…" The door closed and Rachel's eyes widened. "Oh my god."

Standing to her left was a tiger the same size as White Blaze, except he was black!

Black Blaze had no idea why White Blaze had brought this human, she sure didn't look useful. Never the less, he grabbed hold of the skirt she wore and pulled her into the living room.

White Blaze twitched his ears at Rachel's silence. At least now she knew why he brought her here.

Rachel looked back at White Blaze, "Let me guess. Keitaro attacked them and they lost or almost lost?"

He growled while giving one nod.

Looking back at the fire unconscious boys in the apartment she sighed, "Great." She took off the book bag, "Well do either of you know where the first aid kit is?"

White Blaze walked past Rachel and Black Blaze, carefully stepping over Cye and Sage before going down the hall.

Rachel walked closer to where Kento lay and looked at the boys, "It looks like they have half their armor on. But shouldn't their armors be healing them?"

Black Blaze twitched his ears before walking around the girl-she did have a point. By all accounts if Keitaro was a normal foe then yes, the armors would be healing them. However since Keitaro was what he was that gave him the better ability to leave an injury. It would also take this kind of an injury longer for the armors to heal.

White Blaze came back into view carrying a small box in his mouth.

"Oh good they do have one." Rachel knelt down, "White Blaze are they only injured on their heads?"

He shook his head.

"How am I supposed to…?"

_She has a point_, Black Blaze looked at the other tiger.

White Blaze looked away.

"Hey, I can't really help the guys like you want if their armors are on them. I don't know how to take it off."

As if the armors heard her, they began to glow then fade away, leaving the ronin in their pajamas and showing multiple burses and a few cuts.

"…Okay that was weird."

* * *

Black Blaze lay on the floor just under the window, his yellow-black eyes fixated on the human girl. Hours had passed since she treated the wounds that she could; now she sat at the table reading a book. Why did she stay? There was no longer a need for her to stay since her work was done. _I will always have a hard time understanding humans_.

White Blaze looked at him from his spot behind Ryo, _What is so hard to understand now_?

_Why_ _has that girl stayed here? She doesn't need to be here anymore._

_Rachel stays because she wants to make sure they are okay. This is call concern for friends; it's not unlike you being concerned for your late master_. White Blaze pointed out.

The black tiger laid his head down, _That does make sense_. He looked at the white tiger, _I'm surprised you brought her here. When I said we'd need help I suspected you were getting that Kayura girl not a human_.

His ears twitched, _Believe me I don't want Rachel any further involved with the fights these boys will face-but she is studying in the medical field and I knew I'd catch her easier than Kayura. I can't enter the Nether Realm at will like you_. _And just as easily as I could have gotten help, you could have gone to the Nether Realm for it too._

_I _**refuse**_ to ask anyone who was _**ever**_ affiliated with Talpa for help_. The tiger snorted.

Rachel lifted her head up to look at the black tiger, "Are you okay?" She asked.

Black Blaze looked at her but did nothing.

"I guess so then." Rachel put a bookmark in the book then opened her book bag, "Better eat something before my stomach wakes them." Pulling out her Totoro bento box, Rachel opened it and inhaled the smell of food. "Mm"

The smell of meat caught White Blaze's attention and he made a small grunt.

Rachel looked at him, "I'm not sure you'd like this White Blaze-and I'd rather you not move. Sage and Ryo's skulls took a pretty good hit so please keep playing the temporary roll of pillow."

Someone groaned.

Rachel turned to see Kento rub his face, "Did anyone catch the license plate of the semi truck that hit me?"

"I think it started with a K and ended with an O."

Kento moved, winced and looked at the girl, "Rachel? What are you doing here?" Then it donned on him where he was, "And how did I get here?"

"You don't know how you got here?" She blinked, "You guys where already here when I was brought here."

Kento raised an eyebrow, "Brought?"

She pointed across the room, "White Blaze got me on my way to school this morning, then brought me here to play doctor."

"Well then Doctor Hoth, am I okay to sit up?"

She smiled and shook her head, "Yes you can sit up, but go slow so you don't hurt your bruised shoulder."

Nodding the Ronin of HardRock sat up trying to ignore the pain that rang in his ears, "If White Blaze brought you here I bet he got us here too."

"Maybe the black tiger helped too. I don't think White Blaze can carry all five of you at once."

_The black tiger_? Kento blinked, "Black Blaze is here?"

"That's your name." Rachel looked across the room to the tiger under the window.

How Kento missed seeing Black Blaze was a mystery to him, "I don't remember seeing him last night."

Closing her bento box she asked, "Kento what did happen last night? I figured you all got attacked but how did you guys take a beating like this? You've been winning."

"Oh geez where to start?"

"Preferably at the beginning. I'll venture to guess that everyone was sleeping since you're all in your pajamas."

"None of us where asleep, we just in our pajamas to be a little more convincing to Ryo's aunt that it was a sleepover. Since we got attacked at the Dojo a few days ago we've been fighting out in Ryo's backyard so we have a better chance to see what's coming."

"You where fighting in your PJ's in the backyard?"

"As fun as that would actually be, nop, we were up in Ryo's room trying a tracking tactic that Sekhmet had found in the Dynasty. We had a map of the whole region that Rowen got from work and of all places for Keitaro to be it said he was at the amusement park down town. After we made sure Kim was asleep, sneaking out of the house was easy compared to getting into the park."

Letting out a sigh he continued, "Last time the five of us were there it was easy to get in since Talpa had all the people in the city captured." Shaking his head he went on, "But anyways we got in and at first we thought the spell-or whatever you want to call it-didn't work. Our minds quickly changed when all the rides started moving on their own."

"Creepy."

"Very, Keitaro finally showed himself sitting in the center of the fairris wheel. He asked how we found him and of course we wouldn't tell."

"Then he pulled two serrated swords out of nowhere and came at us."

"Sage," Rachel looked at him.

Kento watched his blonde friend sit up, "You okay man?"

"My head is spinning," Sage answered and put a hand on his forehead.

"I'm pretty sure you have a concussion, Sage so take it easy." Rachel said.

He nodded slowly, "Alright."

"After he came at us with the swords, he started fighting with Ryo and Cye. The rest of us got to fend off the pieces of the game stands that came flying at us."

"Parts of the game stalls came flying at you?" She repeated.

"That was about as exciting as it sounds," Sage said, "After we trashed the place, and Keitaro somehow pushed Cye back he leapt up onto the roller coaster and baited us to follow him."

"So we did and nearly got run over by the coaster cars. Damn that was stupid."

"We followed Keitaro across the park, parts of the game stalls and now the gift shop still flying at us, until we all ended up on the ferris wheel. I'm not really sure how but at some point while Ryo fought Keitaro, that basterd knocked Ryo off the railing." Sage looked upset, "I caught him but our helmets collided and I blacked out. That's probably were I got the concussion."

The auburn haired girl frowned.

"Ryo must have blacked out the same time you did," Kento said, "Rowen jumped down after you two then the ferris wheel shook and started to collapse."

"I caught you and Ryo before being buried under debris from that stupid ride."

"Rowen." Rachel looked at the taller of the boys who was still lying on the floor with his eyes closed.

Sage looked at his roommate, "You shielded us?"

"Tried too," He opened his eyes, "I blacked out after that so I don't know how good of a job I did."

"Since neither of them are dead, and you only have a few bruises on your back, plus a small cut on your neck, I think you did a good job." Rachel said.

"That's good to know."

"What happened to you and Cye?" Sage looked across the room at Kento.

"We fell with the ferris wheel, my shoulder met something on the way down, and I heard Cye say something before we hit the ground. I don't remember what he said but I blacked out after impact."

"We'll have to wait for Cye to wake up then to hear the rest," Rowen sat up on his elbows, wincing, "Ow."

Sage though about standing but decided against it given his current condition, "Rachel."

"Yes?"

"In the bathroom under the sink is a plastic container with pain killers in it. Would you get it please?"

"Sure thing," She stood up and walked into the hallway.

Violet eyes focused on Kento, _Any idea how she got here?_

_She said White Blaze brought her_. Kento looked at the window, _She thinks White Blaze brought us here too with his help_.

"Hm?" Sage and Rowen looked at the black tiger against the wall.

"When did he get here?" Rowen asked.

"He's been here since Rachel got here, or so she said."

"Black Blaze was here when I got here," Rachel confirmed upon re-entering the living room. "I don't know what surprised me more, a black tiger or the five of you passed out wearing half your armor."

"I wonder how we ended up in subarmor?" Rowen thought allowed.

"Forget the subarmor, how are we in our pajamas?"

"I may have something to do with that last bit," Rachel sat down between Rowen and Kento, "I made a comment to White Blaze about only being able to help find head injuries when your armors faded away, leaving you five like this."

"The armors heard you?" Rowen blinked.

Rachel shrugged and opened up the plastic container, "Anything particular I should pull out here?"

"Aspirin." The three awake Ronin said in union.

She pulled out the half-full bottle, "Alright. You guys want water?"

"I'd like some."

"You okay Cye?" Rowen asked.

The elder of the Ronin sat up then held his left wrist, "Mhm.. I think so."

"That wrist is sprained so take it easy," Rachel handed Rowen the aspirin before going into the kitchen.

"Guess I'm not so okay," Cye corrected.

"There are some bottles of water in the fridge," Sage told Rachel.

Rowen opened the bottle and took two pills, swallowed, then handed it off to Sage. "Did you black out after you and Kento fell?"

Cye shook his head, "Not right after anyways. We hit the ground, then Keitaro did a flip of the carousel, landing on my back then something hit me on the side of my head. I half expected to wake up in a cell again."

Kento groaned, though he never would admit to the others, the same fear struck him. "So then that would put your theory into play Rachel."

Rachel sat back down with four bottles of water, "I guess so. There are three bottles left in the fridge." She said before passing them out.

"What theory?" Cye asked, grateful for the water.

Holding the cold water bottle against his head Sage said, "Black Blaze is here."

Turning to look at Sage, Cye spotted the demonic tiger by the window, "When did he get here?"

"I thought he got here last night," Rachel added, "He was here when White Blaze brought me here so I figured Black Blaze helped him bring you all here. I know White Blaze is strong but with the five of you that'd be a stretch."

"She has a point," Rowen said before lying back on the floor.

"What time is it?" Cye asked.

Looking down at her watch Rachel replied, "Almost three-thirty."

"We where unconscious for that long?" Kento blinked.

"Hopefully Ryo won't be much longer, or we'll need to think of an excuse while taking his to the hospital." Rachel pointed out.

The four turned to look at Ryo's unconscious form still against White Blaze. "You're right," Sage said, "Is there a safe way to try and wake him up?"

"I'm not sure it would matter at this point," She answered.

"Do we slap him or poor water over him?" Kento mused.

White Blaze growled.

"Somehow I don't think White Blaze agrees with that," Cye looked at Kento.

"We could try moving him," Rowen said and the other three nodded.

"Be careful with his head, I'm still pretty sure he has a concision."

* * *

Ryo groaned, his head felt three sizes too big, placing his hands on either side of his head. "Damn.."

"Good to see you're awake."

Opening his eyes Ryo saw Sage standing next to him, "Hey." He looked around the room and it took a few minutes for it to register just where he was then he asked, "How did we get here?"

"It looks like White Blaze and Black Blaze brought us here, it's all that makes sense."

"Black Blaze?"

"Yeah he must have shown up sometime after we all lost consciousness." Sage sat on the side of Rowen's bed, "At least that's what Rachel thinks and I'm starting to agree with her."

The Ronin leader sat up a little too quickly, "What is Rachel doing here?"

Sage put his hand on Ryo's shoulder, "Calm down. We both have concussions and you shouldn't yours worse by getting all worked up."

Ryo held the side of his head again and blinked, he felt something on his jaw. Moving his fingers he realized it was a band aid, "I'll try to keep calm but why is she here? I thought we all agreed to keep as many people out of this as possible after the dojo was attacked."

"Ask White Blaze," Sage looked at the tiger in question at the foot of the bed. "Rachel said he brought her here to patch us up."

White Blaze walked around beside Sage and gave a low grunt.

"I don't like it any more than you do Ryo."

"Are you guys okay?" Ryo changed the subject.

"As okay as we can be," the blonde closed his eyes, "Everyone's bruised and scrapped is some way, you and I have concussions, and Cye sprained his wrist." Opening his eyes back up he added, "Rowen and Kento went with Rachel to get some food they should be back soon."

"You caught me." Ryo remembered the fall off that farris wheel.

"I did," Sage admitted, "Then our helmets collided, that's probably how we ended up with concussions. Rowen went after us before he got buried under debris, Kento hit the ground then blacked out, and Keitaro hit Cye in the side of the head."

"How long have we been here?"

The swordsman thought a moment, "Probably since close to daybreak. Kento was the first one up and that was sometime before three-thirty in the afternoon. It's closer to seven now"

"Wow I really was out of it for a while."

"Yeah. I just wish we didn't get into some big mess every time I try to help you out."

Tiger blue eyes looked at the violet one; he knew the meaning behind that, "Sage you need to stop beating yourself up for that. It's no more your fault that you couldn't respond than it was mine for being blinded by the poison."

Sighing he responded, "Ryo it's hard for me not to, and asking me to stop is like asking you to stop beating yourself up over Luna. It is not going to just happen. I don't get as worked up over it like I used to anymore."

Ryo looked away at the mention of Luna's name.

Leaning off the wall outside Cye knocked on the doorframe, "Sorry to interrupt but they are back."

They both looked at Cye, nodding once. Sage stood up and walked out of the room, he entered the kitchen and turned the light on. The room started spinning again so Sage put his hands on the counter and closed his eyes. _This better not last much longer or I'm going to be sick_.

"You okay there Sage?" Rowen asked after closing the door.

"Dizzy spell."

"Dude maybe you should sit down," Kento suggested.

Sage nodded, "Ryo's up."

Rachel brought a bag of food into the kitchen, "We got simple stuff to make and I'll help you guys cook it before I head home."

"Rachel you don't need-"

"Cye I want to help." She cut him off, "You guys are injured and you are my friends. I'll leave after the food is cooked."

"I don't think there is much sense arguing with her," Kento looked at Cye. _Besides none of us are really in the right condition to cook_.

Cye shook his head.

Rowen walked over to his room, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just came out of the spin-cycle. Feel like helping me up?"

"Sure thing," Rowen walked into his bedroom and helped his leader off the bed, "Up we go." He helped Ryo out of the bedroom, Kento joined them in the living room and helped Ryo to the sofa.

"Thanks guys," Ryo sighed.

* * *

Black Blaze sat on the roof of the building, it was near midnight now and he was glad for the fresh air. Being stuck inside a house all day was not his way of being productive and they were running out of time. He then heard White Blaze walking up beside him, turning to look at the white tiger he said, _Did you see her home safely then as asked_?

_Of course I did_. White Blaze sat down, _All that aside can you tell me what you found_? He looked at the other tiger with hard brown eyes.

_Haytie is in India. There is a powerful idol there in one of the many lost temples, according to local lore this idol is a snake with a mirror in its mouth. With this mirror you can find anyone or anything with an amount of power equal to your own_.

White Blaze snorted, _That is how he will find us_.

_Most likely_. Black Blaze looked at the sky, _Spirits that guard the temple are doing what they can to keep Haytie at bay but they won't last much longer. I give it two more days before he gets hold of it and turns his army on us_.

_We are running out of time, Keitaro doesn't have much longer either. I can see his power fading._

_Keitaro can only stage four more attacks until he is out of power. I'm sure he will make these next few count, probably give the boys good reason to get angry too._ Black Blaze looked at White Blaze. _If he doesn't then those five are as good as dead. I'm not even sure they stand much of a chance as things are_.

White Blaze pinned his ears and growled, _I refuse to let them meet the same fate as Keitaro and the other seven did last time_.

Then we have to find small ways to help Keitaro. I can easily play such a roll, can you?

Brown eyes looked down at the parking lot below. He felt trapped. _I will have to find a way_.

* * *

A/N: o.O holy cows, I only have five chapters left to write! It's like a new record for me! Now work is getting crazy with the shopping season so I'm not promising to get ch. 21 up anytime soon but I will do my best.


	21. Move

**Magic**

Chapter Twenty One: Move

* * *

Cye locked the door to the pottery shop, flinching slightly as he moved the sprained wrist. It didn't hurt as bad as it did a few days ago thankfully, however that didn't make it any less annoying. At least he didn't get a concussion like Sage and Ryo.

Thanks to the injuries Keitaro, and the debris, left on them Ryo had deemed it necessary to hold off on the sparring until this afternoon. Instead, they were working on trying to control their elements, which to Cye's surprise was going quite well for them all. Even when they didn't try anything something happened.

Like yesterday when Sage got off the phone with his older sister. Cye knew they had been talking about Sage's upcoming birthday, she had said something that made his blonde friend mad and after he hung up the phone all the lights in the apartment started glowing brightly then they all burned out. And no one was in armor or subarmor when this happened either.

_Strange how our powers are picking up faster than our skill_, the potter mused to himself, _But I wished they would work when we need them too without us thinking of them._

He would have given almost anything for someone's powers to kick in at the amusement park. Or maybe they had after they all blacked out. As it was there were only three things about that night he knew:

One was that three of them (himself included) got hurt pretty bad compared to the other fights with Keitaro.

Two being that between getting knocked out and waking up, Black Blaze had found his way to them and been staying with him and Kento since. Which really wasn't turning out to be as bad as it had first sounded.

Third was the one that really bothered him. White Blaze's choice to have Rachel come over to tend their wounds did not sit well with him. It didn't sit too well with any of them really. Why hadn't their armors kicked in to heal them? For that matter, how in the world did the armor fade and leave him in his pajamas? Rachel had said it happened after a comment she made, but there had to be something more to it than that.

These fights with Keitaro were leaving Cye more questions than answers. Like Rowen, Cye didn't like to be in a fight with little or no answers to the reason. Fighting that way felt pointless and empty. It was no secret that the Torrent Ronin didn't like to fight if he could avoid it, but he was one of the first to pick up arms if the cause was right.

Fighting with a sorcerer, or whatever Keitaro was, to bend his amusement was not a cause.

He pushed those thoughts away; he wanted to worry about little things for a moment. Like dinner. Kento was with his family tonight and Cye would be heading over to Ryo's later so they could do some one-on-one training now that his head was better. Cye had offered to bring things over to cook so they could practice on the water and maybe heating the (already dying) stove.

_Noodles or rice_? He asked himself while walking past some apartments.

"Cye!"

"Huh?" Turning he saw Rachel standing by a moving van with a box in her arms. "Rachel." He walked across the parking lot and stopped a few feet from her, "So this is where you live."

"Lived," She corrected, "I'm moving into a house with my friend Sileny. It's only a few blocks away so I can finish out the school year."

Cye nodded, "I hope your um.. experiences with us haven't made you run off?"

Rachel regarded him for a moment, "No. Sileny and I have been talking about this since I moved here in September." She set the box in the truck, "But while we are talking about my 'experiences' with you guys, how is your wrist?"

"Still hurts but not as bad," He answered truthfully. "Ryo's pretty much over his concussion, though I think Sage is still a little affected by his."

"I'm glad."

Stepping closer to the younger girl Cye said, "And thank you for helping us. You didn't need to do that."

Sky blue eyes met his sea-green ones, "I _wanted_ to help. I know that I didn't need to but I couldn't just turn a blind eye. All the same you are welcome."

"You probably should have turned a blind eye," He then added in a lower voice, "What if Keitaro attacked while we were unconscious? You would have been defenseless."

"Not completely with two five-hundred pound tigers in the room. But honestly, I didn't think of what I'd do if he attacked. I was way more worried about the five of you on the floor."

Cye went to say something but she cut him off.

"And besides if he really wanted to attack me to get at you guys, again, then what's to stop him from doing so when I'm not around you guys? He could just as easily pop up in my bedroom as he could have at Sage and Rowen's apartment."

He frowned. That was true. "You do have a point, I'm just worried. Sorry."

"No," She shook her head, auburn hair swishing onto her shoulders, "I understand. Since I can't really defend myself that puts me down as a liability. And I'm trying to find a way to easily wrap my brain around the fact that you and the other four are well super heroes-for lack of better term. But if there is a way that I can help then I want to, think of it as my way of pacifying being a liability."

"That's why you gave us those papers on magic." Cye summed, "Look if you are around when Keitaro attacks we will protect you. Ryo mostly since he feels responsible for bringing you into our mess."

Rachel shifted her weight, "Well technically that was _my own_ fault. I was worried about why Ryo and White Blaze were chasing after him, like they say curiosity gets the better of us some times making us look very stupid."

"I can relate to that," Cye admitted. "Do you need any help moving the boxes?"

"Boxes no, all that's left is the really heavy stuff." She then caught on, "and I'm not sure you want to help us move heavy things with a sprained wrist."

"Not really, but I was going to offer closing the back of the van for you. That much I know I can do."

Rachel smiled.

"Who's this?"

Cye looked past the younger girl at the direction of the voice. A girl was approaching them, clearly a foreigner like Rachel, with long light orange hair. She couldn't have been any taller than he was, and she had a bigger box in her arms.

"Sileny this is my friend Cye, Cye this is my best friend Sileny Svensson."

Cye smiled and gave a nod of his head, "It's nice to meet you Sileny. Rachel's said a lot of good things about you."

"Yeah she likes leaving out the bad," Sileny said sarcastically before sliding the box into the van, "I'm glad to meet you too Cye, Rachel has told me about you as well."

"Good or bad things?" The older boy smiled amused.

"Both?" Rachel's answer was more a question really.

"You'll figure it out. How is your wrist? Rachel said you and a few others had a bad fall down some stairs."

_That's a good excuse_, he thought before answering, "A little sore but not as bad as it was."

"That's good," Sileny looked at Rachel, "That was the last of the boxes. We should drop this stuff off at the house then see who gets death by bed after."

"Death by bed doesn't sound very good." Cye said.

"My bed is heavy," Rachel shrugged, "I'm not sure why since it's made of wood."

"Could be your mattress," Sileny closed the back of the moving van, "Do you need a lift Cye?"

He blinked, "Maybe," looking at Rachel he said, "I was going to Ryo's house but if that's not on the way then don't worry."

"It's on our way." Rachel smiled, "We are moving into the neighborhood a few blocks from him."

"Then in that case I'd be happy for a ride," he smiled at the two girls. "Thank you."

* * *

"So you're from Hagi," Sileny smiled, "What's it like there?"

"Quiet compared to Tokyo."

She laughed, "I'm starting to think that every where is quiet compared to Tokyo."

Rachel giggled, "Kyoto's close."

"I'll agree with Rachel, I've been to Kyoto a few times. The only quiet places are the temples." _With the exception of the one Dais destroyed_…

"Eh well you do have a point there," Sileny turned the van, "So what brought you to Tokyo?"

"Same as you and Rachel, school."

"Are you looking to a college like us?"

"I haven't decided yet, the old lady who is letting me use the shop space is an old friend of my mom and if I'd like to keep it I should look into getting a degree in business."

"Good idea," Rachel looked at him. _Could Cye really do that I wonder_?

Cye looked out the front window, "Ah there. Ryo's home is third from the corner."

"That's a cute house," Sileny said as she slowed the van down.

Rachel looked over Cye's shoulder, "Are you sure Ryo's home? The lights aren't on."

Cye's brow furrowed, "He's supposed to be…" A chill ran up and down Cye's spine, _something's not right_. He blinked, _oh god what if..._? The young girl beside him must have thought the same thing, he felt her grip his arm.

Sileny parked the van, "If you want we'll wait to see if he is home."

_May not be the best idea_, Rachel thought. She had seen Keitaro and Ryo fight once, that had been more than enough for her. Not to mention the damage she had seen inflicted on the other boys… her gaze went to Cye's wrist while her mind split between the other injuries.

Cye gave Sileny a reassuring smile, "No it's alright. If Ryo did go out for something I can always wait in the backyard with White Blaze."

"White Blaze? That his dog?"

"No his cat," Rachel answered. "Cye will be okay Sileny, if I see Ryo on our way to our house I'll tell you so we can pull over and let him know Cye's here. I'd kinda like to get the rest of my things out of the apartment before it's really dark."

"Alright, alright," Sileny nodded, "If you're still here alone when we come back by Cye I might recruit you to help us."

Cye nodded, "Fair enough." He opened the door and hopped out of the car, "Thanks for the ride."

"Not a problem," Sileny smiled.

Rachel looked at Cye and mouthed, 'be careful,' before adding, "See you later."

"Don't drop anything on your feet," Cye waved as they drove down the road. _Don't worry Rachel, I have every intention of being careful if this is an attack._ He looked back at the house, it was unnerving the creepy feeling he was getting from it now. Either he was getting jumpy or else Keitaro might really be here.

Slowly Cye started up the walkway of the house, keeping his eyes open in case something did happen.

He heard it before he saw it. The noise was of glass shattering somewhere in the back of the house. The older of the boys ran over, jumped the fence, and saw White Blaze standing over Ryo growling.

"Ryo!"

Ryo looked over and blinked, "Cye get down!"

Cye ducked down just as the window on the side of the house blew out. Glass was thrown all over the side of the house before Keitaro stepped out of the already shattered sliding glass door, only a few feet away from Ryo.

The enemy smirked as he looked between the two Ronin, "Ah seems you called back up, Ryo."

Ryo stood behind White Blaze glaring at Keitaro, "You okay Cye?"

Cye stood up, now in subarmor and he too glared at Keitaro, "I'm fine."

Keitaro smirked, "Let us continue then shall we? I'd like to see just how fast you'll bounce back from this."

White Blaze roared at him, as necessary as this might be the two Ronin were not in a condition to fight again just yet. What was Keitaro thinking?!

He moved his hand out and the shards of glass floated into the air before circling around his hand. The glass formed two long double bladed swords, holding each in one hand he ran to Ryo then veered at the last moment making Cye his target.

Cye leapt to the side, turned, and hammer punched him in the shoulder before landing by Ryo. "You're plan is to attack us with weapons made from glass?"

"That's pretty frail don't you think?" Ryo added.

Keitaro smirked, turning to look at them he said, "You may be surprised how something you see as brittle, can be so deadly."

_I don't like this…_ Cye had that sinking feeling in his stomach. He used to get the same feeling when fighting Sekhmet just before the Warlord of Venom pulled one of his tricks. Something in those stone cold eyes of the enemy…

Next thing Cye knew he heard a familiar whistling sound, both he and Ryo moved just as three arrows shot between them and hit the ground in front of Keitaro. Each arrow let out a miniature shock wave, pushing Keitaro back again the house, and cracking the ground.

Ryo turned to see the youngest of the ronin crouching in the neighbor's tree, "Rowen!"

"Ryo, Cye, are you two okay?" Rowen jumped down into Ryo's backyard, holding his bow and wearing nothing but his subarmor.

"I think so," Ryo answered. _How the hell did Rowen call his weapon without full armor_?

"Then there were three instead of two," Keitaro mused, "Looks like you five are starting to organize even better. How fun this will get indeed." _This is good, Ryo must have called out and that's why he was so easy to throw out the door._

Cye glared, "Just because you knocked us all out last time doesn't mean you can get cocky about it!"

Rowen held his bow out and drew and arrow from the air, "We are not your toys to play with Keitaro."

Keitaro smashed the glass swords together; the shards began floating and spinning around his body. "Oh yes you are." Snapping his fingers he sent the shards of glass flying at the three ronin.

Ryo saw Rowen fire the arrow before all four of them scattered, the glass followed them like heat seeking missiles. The Ronin Leader ran past a tree, hearing glass strike the bark, making a beeline for the enemy, he went to punch him square in the face but Keitaro vanished. Staggering forward he then felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck, wincing he reached back and pulled a shard of glass out of his neck. Blood shown on the edge of the half-inch long shard.

"Ryo!" Cye and Rowen yelled in unison.

"I'm alright!" He got up, trying to ignore the trickle of blood running down the back of his neck, as he looked around for Keitaro.

_On the roof_! Rowen's voice entered Ryo's head.

All three jumped at what seemed a perfect time. The ground below them split into three halves and shot up between them. They reached the roof and Keitaro came at them, holding the two serrated swords from the last time. He clashed with Rowen's bow, kicked Ryo in the side, and brought the other sword down on Cye's shoulder.

White Blaze wanted to leap up and help, badly. Problem was that Black Blaze's words still danced in his head.

Ryo flipped up off his back, turned and landed a kick in Keitaro's ribs while at the same time, Cye punched him square in the apple of his neck.

Keitaro staggered back before something knocked him forward and off the roof.

"Kento!" Cye looked at his roommate who stood with his fists in front of him.

Kento took a deep breath, "Sorry I'm late."

"Don't make a habit out of it." Ryo warned.

"Rowen how did you get your-" Before Kento could finish his sentence, a tree came crashing down between the quartet and through the roof of the house, taking the ronin with it.

"Holy shit!" Ryo cursed loudly after finding himself in what was once his aunt's bedroom.

Rowen stood up and rubbed his head, "Great how are we explain this one to Kim?"

"We can worry about that later!" Cye called from the hall before helping Kento up.

Outside they all heard a cry, "White Blaze!" Ryo shouted and got to his feet.

Keitaro crashed in from the window, flipped off the wall and stood on the trunk of the fallen tree, blood glistening off one of the swords. All four Ronin sprinted in his direction; he jumped into the air before any could touch him, however, Rowen and Ryo went up after him. He was about five feet above the roof when he felt an elbow in his back, the force of that attack sent him into the yard next door.

"Sage!" Ryo looked at his blonde friend.

Sage landed on a corner of the roof, just as Cye and Kento made it up, "Everyone okay?"

"Not sure yet," Rowen answered.

Kento and Ryo jumped off the roof, landed in the backyard and over to White Blaze. The large white tiger lay trapped under part of the fallen tree, his shoulder bleeding badly.

"Guys get down here!" Kento called up before he tried moving the tree.

"Little busy at the moment!" Rowen shouted back.

Ryo looked up and saw Sage and Rowen clash weapons with Keitaro's sword. "Damn it!"

"Go up and help them, I'll get White Blaze out from under this."

"Thanks," Ryo went to jump up but ended up jumping to the side as Keitaro was thrown back onto the ground.

He was about to get up when Rowen's arrows pinned him down to the ground followed swiftly by Sage's sword cutting his shoulder. This fight had gotten very interesting. Now four of the five Ronin stood over Keitaro, a look of kill in their eyes. Which, in his opinion was a good thing.

"Let's see you vanish now," Rowen taunted aiming another arrow in the face of the enemy.

Kento lifted up the tree, "Want me to throw it on him instead?" He looked at his leader.

_Yes_. Ryo thought, especially after the way Keitaro looked at the tree. Instead, he answered, "Not yet."

"Keitaro how long do you plan on attacking us like this?" Sage asked.

"Until I find myself bored with the five of you," He smirked up at them, "I had planned on leave after defeating you all at that strange park. Then that demon tiger came out of nowhere, I'm surprised you got tiger of Saber Strike's on your side."

"So it was Black Blaze," Kento said allowed. _Guess Rachel's theory was really on the money_.

"Oh is that his name?" Keitaro chuckled, "I wonder if he is a relation to White Blaze?"

"That doesn't matter," Rowen glared, "Either find a better reason to attack us Keitaro or leave us alone. Your battles are pointless!"

The smirk widened on his face, "I am not done with the five of you just yet. Now that I know your response time, you won't be able to touch me next time." Pounding his fist on the ground it once more split in two, while the Ronin jumped out of the way, Keitaro fell into the crack and vanished.

* * *

The lights from the fire department bounced off the houses in the neighborhood, making them that much more annoying. It was past sunset when Kimiko returned home from a long day at work only to find a tree in the house. Ryo had managed to weave a good lie about the whole thing; still the house was pretty much a loss.

Kimiko sighed, "This is just a disaster!" She turned to look at Ryo and his four friends, "I'm just so grateful that none of you got hurt."

"It gave us a good scare, the tricky part was getting out of the living room," Cye said trying to sound convincing enough for the nearby cop. He knew that Ryo's aunt was gullible, for better or worse the same could not be said for the police.

"I hope White Blaze will be okay," Kimiko looked at the tiger beside her nephew.

White Blaze gave a soft growl then nudged Ryo's hip.

The leader stroked the tiger's head, "White Blaze will be fine."

"Will your insurance cover this?" Kento asked looking at Kim.

Kim tiled her head, "If not I'll figure out something, until then I can probably stay at one of the resort hotels near Disneyland." She looked at Ryo, "Do you want to stay at one too?"

Before he could answer Sage jumped in and said, "Ryo can stay with us."

"You sure?" Ryo looked at Sage and Rowen.

Rowen nodded, "Yeah we're sure."

"And if you get sick of those two, you can always bunk with Cye and I."

"Thanks guys."

"Ryo you are so lucky to have such good friends," his aunt smiled at him. "So officer do you think it is safe to go in and get a few of the essentials?"

"I wouldn't recommend it miss," The middle-aged officer answered, "Even after they get that tree out the second floor could collapse."

"I see."

"Sounds like we need to move," Ryo said.

"Sure looks that way," His aunt groaned, "I'll call my insurance agent in a little while, can I get the numbers to your homes?" She glanced at Ryo's friends before opening her purse and pulling out her fate address book.

"Of course," Sage answered.

"And Ryo," opening her wallet she pulled out a credit card.

"Aunt Kimiko-"

"Don't try to argue with me young man," Smiling she handed it to him, "Just get yourself some new clothes so you don't have to wear the same thing every day."

He held the card but didn't take his eyes off her, "…How much is on this?"

She waved a hand, "I'll worry about that. This is an emergency so go on and buy what you need, just don't spend a fortune."

"I'll make sure he doesn't," Kento put a hand on Ryo's shoulder and grinned.

"Miss Kobayashi, may I ask you a few more questions?" The officer looked at Kimiko.

"Sure thing officer," Kim smiled as Cye handed her the address book once he and Sage were done. "I will call you tomorrow on my lunch break and let you know how things are going."

Ryo nodded.

* * *

Keitaro sat on the roof of the building a few streets over from where the ronin stood with the cops. His whole body hurt like nothing he could describe thanks to those arrows and the sword of Halo. That battle was much shorter than he had planned, but at least he now knew thing where progressing along nicely.

The ronin still didn't stand much more of a chance than he once did. However, they were much more organized, and it looked to him as though Sage of Halo and Rowen of Strata had figured out how to call their weapons without being in full armor. That trick would be useful to them all.

He heard a sound and looked to his left, blinking he was surprised to see the black tiger approaching him. "What are you doing here?"

Black Blaze sat three feet from the man, _You're powers are weakening_.

"I'm running out of time," Keitaro nodded, "I'm aware of that."

_You keep underestimating the ronin they ambushed you quickly today_.

"Which was a good thing. I would have liked that battle to last a little longer but their weapons do a good job of damaging this body." Closing his eyes he let a sigh escape him, "Black Blaze I think these boys don't stand any more of a chance than I once did. You know them in your own ways, what can I do to throw them off? I've hit every mark I can think of without getting a family member since that was never Haytie's style."

Black Blaze looked at the house next to them, _That girl you used once to get Ryo to fight… use her again_.

"What?" Keitaro opened his eyes and looked at the tiger.

_I remember that you don't like doing the same thing twice, but when you used that girl last time Ryo didn't just react out of instinct_. Yellow and black eyes fixed on him, _last time a girl was brought into their fight she was killed. Ryo and the others will do all they can to be sure that does not happen again_.

"I think I understand that. Though I'd rather not attack a defenseless girl for the same reason twice."

_She remembers the attack your memory spell didn't work on her. Also this girl, Rachel, tended to their wounds the last time you attacked them._

Keitaro raised an eyebrow. "Really now?"

* * *

A/N: Wow do you think I could have used jumped or leapt anymore in this chapter? Sheesh. But yes there is chapter 21 for your enjoyment, 22 will get put up next month. Only a few more chapters until the story is done!!


	22. Invite

**Magic**  
Chapter Twenty Two:  
Invite

* * *

Ryo held up a short-sleeved shirt, "I do need new clothes except this was not the way I imagined I'd be shopping for them."

"Completely understandable," Rowen said, "At least they all bought the lie about the tree just falling."

"Well it was an old tree," Kento held up a baseball shirt, "I wonder how much of the things in there are under her insurance?"

"She didn't say, just told me that she'd take care of everything and to get what I need on her card."

Rowen looked at him, "Maybe she's going to ask family for help?"

"I wouldn't put it passed her right now, she hates asking my grandparents for money but this is a case where she'll need to."

"How are your grandparents anyways?" Kento asked.

"They are fine," Ryo paused before adding, "They are thinking of coming up here in July."

His two friends looked at him.

"I'll think of something," He said then held up another shirt. "Why is shopping for clothes so hard for me?"

Kento chuckled, "Probably because _you_ don't do it much Ryo. You wear everything until it comes undone."

"So I like getting miles out of what I wear, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," Rowen picked up a baseball cap, "You get more for your money that way."

"That's true," He held the shirt up to himself and looked in the mirror, "I like this one."

"Looks nice," Kento offered.

Rowen nodded a bit, "That'll make four shirts and five pants."

"Which is plenty," Ryo folded up the shirt and added it to the pile he had created. Picking them up he set them in the basket along with the pants. "I hope this won't blow whatever budget my aunt has on this thing."

"Would you stop worrying about that?" Kento eyed his leader, "She said not to worry about it so don't worry about it." He added slightly punching his friend in the arm.

"I'll try Kento, I make no promises."

"Just as long as you try, now before we go I told mama I'd see if something was here for her."

"What is it?" Rowen set the hat down.

"Mama put a holding on a tea set that she's going to give to Chun Fa next month on her birthday."

"I hope for your mom's sake it's plastic," Ryo looked at Kento with a worried expression.

Sighing the young Chinese man nodded, "So do I."

They walked out of the clothing area of the department store, past the overly priced cologne, into the kitchen and dinnerware section.

"How much of this does Cye own?" Rowen asked with a smirk.

Kento chuckled, "You really sure you want me to answer that?"

Ryo snickered and shook his head.

"You do realize that doesn't match the plates, right?" A voice carried over the music in the store.

"Gee Rachel, and I thought you liked a variety?"

The three boys looked at each other before looking down an ales way. Rachel stood half way down with a girl with light orange hair they hadn't seen before, whose back was to them.

Rachel smiled, "I like variety just fine. But I prefer to have kitchen things that match." Looking past her friend, the young girl blinked, "Hey guys."

Her friend turned to see whom Rachel was talking to, "Oh more friends you made here?"

Kento grinned, "Hey Rachel, fancy meeting you here."

"Buying plates?" Ryo asked as he and the other two walked over.

She groaned, "Yes…"

"So," Kento looked at the other girl, "I'm going to guess you are Sileny?"

"You win a gold star for the day," Sileny nodded.

"Awesome!" He raised his hands, "I have fulfilled my duty for the day!"

They all laughed, "So you must be Kento, right?" Sileny asked.

"Yes, now you get a gold star."

"Sweetness," She looked at the boy with black hair, "You're Ryo."

He nodded, "It's nice to meet you Sileny. Rachel's talked a lot about you."

"For some reason I'm worried."

"It wasn't anything that bad!" Rachel put a box of cups back on the shelf.

The orange haired girl chuckled then looked up, "That would make you Rowen."

Rowen nodded, "Yeah. How did you guess?"

"Well you're tall, Kento is funny and has a good amount of muscle-"

"Aw thanks," Kento grinned.

"You're welcome, and Ryo has black hair with blue eyes."

"I see Rachel's told you a little about us," Ryo looked at the girl to his side, "So why are you buying plates?"

Rachel let out another groan, "Because all my china broke last night."

Sileny put a hand on her hip while the other held a box of dishes, "Some idiot ran a red light and I had to slam on the breaks. Rachel's bed fell backwards and crushed the china."

Kento's eyes widened, "All the china was smashed?"

"Plates, bowls, glasses, serving ware, pretty much everything but the kitchen knives and chop sticks were a total loss."

"And I thought I had a rough night," Ryo said.

"Ryo, I lost all my china last night. _You_, on the other hand, had a tree fall through the roof of your house." Rachel looked at him, "I think you had the rougher night."

"How did you hear about that?" Rowen asked.

"We drove past the house on our way back to my old apartment to get the bed; they had started lifting the tree out with a crane. Kimiko was still there so I asked her what happened and if you and Cye were okay."

"No one was hurt," Ryo assured her, "My aunt said that the house is pretty much a total loss, 'cause she can't afford to fix the roof. She's going to look for a new house soon."

"Until then Ryo's bunking with us," Kento swung his arm around his friend's shoulder.

Rachel smiled, "Well I'm glad no one got hurt."

"So what are your plans today?" Kento asked.

"Buy new china then go home and unpack the rest of our things," Rachel answered, "You guys?"

Ryo answered, "Getting new clothes, buying lunch, Kento's picking up something for his mom, then we're meeting Sage at the dojo later."

Sileny looked thoughtful, "Sage is the blonde one, right?" She looked at Rachel.

"Yes, Sage has blonde hair," Rowen looked at the two girls.

"Wow Rachel, I didn't know you could throw your voice!"

Rowen looked annoyed; Ryo and Kento on the other hand started laughing.

Rachel shook her head, "Sileny…"

Sileny smiled.

Kento looked at a set of glassware, his brow narrowing. "That's weird."

"What?" Ryo looked at his friend.

He looked at Ryo, "Just something only I'd notice."

_Kento_.

_Ryo, that glass is shaking_.

The archer looked between the two, and although he couldn't hear the mental conversation, he knew what the look in their eyes meant.

"Guys?" Rachel looked between the three boys.

Before one of them could give an answer, the ground beneath them started shaking violently then began moving in such a way that they felt like they were standing on the ocean. Kento lost his footing and grabbed hold of the shelves. Ryo fell backwards, landed on Rowen who fell back to the ground with Ryo in a domino effect. Sileny fell to her side, clinching the shelving unite, and trying to help Rachel stay steady.

"Earthquake!" Someone shouted.

"Somehow I don't think so!"

Rachel looked at Kento worried, "What do you mean you don't think so?!"

"If it's not an earthquake then what do you think it is?!" Sileny asked.

"Not sure!"

"How many earthquakes do you know of that act like this?!" Rowen looked at the girl with light orange hair.

"Fine! Then what do-"

All the displayed china surrounding them shattered, shards of glass and porcelain went flying everywhere. Kento, Rachel, and Sileny fell onto the ground to avoid the flying shards. A few minutes went by before the ground abruptly stopped.

Ryo sat up from beside Rowen, looking around he asked, "Everyone okay?"

"Arggh, think so," Kento rubbed his forehead.

"I'm alright," Rowen sat up, "You girls?"

"I'm okay," Rachel nodded.

Sileny nodded, "Yeah me to." She stood up then offered her hand to Rachel who took it gladly.

Kento helped Ryo plus Rowen up at the same time; all five of them looked around. Everyone they could see where also starting to stand and ask others if they were alright too. Damage was surprisingly small, things had toppled over, yes, all the other glass was intact save for what was around them. Lights began to flicker, went out, and a very still black silence met them.

"Guys…?" Kento asked slowly.

"Ow!" Rachel's voice rang out, "That was my foot!"

"Sorry," Sileny started, "Who's touching my shoulder?"

"Oh sorry I thought you were Ryo."

"I think I'm by Kento, Rowen."

"Yeah you sound like you're next to me."

"Sileny is your little flashlight still on your keychain?"

"Um yeah just a sec…"

"Ow! That was my stomach…"

"Well then don't stand behind her, Rowen."

"Shut up Kento."

"Ah ha!" The light from the inch long flashlight illuminated the space just enough that everyone could see where they were. "Not much but at least it works."

"May I?" Ryo land his hand out to Sileny.

"Sure," She handed him the flashlight, "Just press the little button on the side."

"Alright," After a brief darkness, Ryo turned the flashlight on and used it to look around the store, "Where is everyone?"

Kento blinked, "What the? This place was busy a moment ago."

"It's like they all vanished," Sileny added.

"Ryo, Kento, doesn't this remind you of something?" Rowen looked at his two friends.

"Something Sage went through earlier," Kento confirmed.

Rachel's eye widened, "You mean at the dojo with the kids?"

Ryo nodded.

Sileny looked at the four people around her, "Is there something going on that I should know about?"

The light landed on a crack that was quickly spreading and heading their way, "We'll have to fill you in later," Ryo said, "Right now we need to move."

Pipes sprang out from the walls, moving towards the group kicking up debris as they went. "Shit!" Kento took Rachel by the waist, jumped up and then to the side.

Rowen took Sileny by the arm, pulling her out of the way then bounding back on top of a table, "You okay?"

She nodded.

Ryo glared, "Keitaro! Come out and show yourself!" He demanded while shining the light as far out as it would go.

"Keitaro?" Sileny blinked.

Rowen's grip on her arm lessened, "Looks like you're involved now too."

"Involved?" She turned her head in his direction, "What do you mean by that?" Though she could just barely make out his face, Sileny knew something was different. It almost felt like the hand that was holding her arm was wearing a glove now.

"We'll explain later in full, Keitaro is someone who's been fighting us for weeks for no real reason."

"Would this be the same Keitaro you asked me about Rachel?" Sileny called into the near blackness.

Kento felt Rachel's arms stiffen around his neck, "Yes," she answered, "It is the same guy you said could be a sorcerer."

"A Sorcerer?" Chuckling echoed in the darkness. "So the other foreigner is the one who granted me such a title."

Ryo whirled round and shined the light on Keitaro's form.

Keitaro didn't even blink when the dim light hit him, "Ahh I see you're catching onto the game quicker and quicker, the three of you are already in your subarmor." He smirked then added, "While protecting innocents."

The ronin of fire glared, "You leave them out of this, all of them!"

Rachel felt Kento tighten his grip around her waist, "Sileny and I can hide while you three fight him." She whispered.

"Rachel, I can barely make out your face. You are not leaving my side if I have any say," he whispered back, "And don't worry, Sileny will be safe with Rowen."

"I'm a little more worried about Ryo."

"Me too. I called Cye anyways."

She allowed herself a smile, "You're a good friend Kento."

* * *

Cye was finding it a lot easier to keep up with Sage these days, especially when it was an emergency call like the one he got from Kento. After that Cye had reached out to Sage's mind to find out that the Ronin of Light was left out of that conversation. Now both of them dashed across the rooftops of Shibuya to aid their friends before the cops got there.

"I was afraid this would happen," Sage kept his eyes forward as they landed onto another roof.

"We all were," Cye agreed, "Getting attacked while we are all separate is one thing but attacking innocents more than once is just not right!"

"He'll pay for it!"

"Sage we need to pull it into overdrive, I can hear the sirens catching up with us!"

"Right!"

Something caught Cye eye and he turned his head, "White Blaze! Black Blaze!"

"What?" Sage looked over and saw the two tigers running straight for him and Cye, "Guess they are our back up?"

Cye smiled, "We'll need it."

* * *

"WAH!" Kento winced as his back met the hard concrete pillar, pain shot through his spine and into his skull. At least he was able to protect Rachel from the brunt of the attack.

"Kento! Rachel!"

Pipes shot up from the ground and out of the walls, trapping both Kento and Rachel against the pillar. Squeezing tightly around their arms and legs, the pressure made Rachel feel like she was being crushed.

Rowen shot an arrow in Keitaro's direction, "Let them go!"

The man dodged the attack, before clashing his saber with Ryo's kanta. "You're in good form today!" He said before kicking the ronin back, catching an arrow that nearly hit his shoulder Keitaro spun around and flung it back toward Strata.

"Get down!" The ronin ducked down along with the girl who was behind him. Sure he couldn't see it but he still knew that it had gone past them, he also heard it land somewhere.

_Rowen_!

_Sage_?!

_Where are you guys?_

_Third floor. Kento and Rachel are trapped against something, Ryo's and I are fighting Keitaro as best we can. It's dark in here like what you described in your first encounter_!

_Cye and I are on our way up! _That said a bright green light shot out of the ground, sending sections of the floor flying while illuminating the room. The darkness Keitaro had brought vanished, lights from the ceiling again filled the room.

Keitaro shielded his eyes from the light with an arm, _That was fast_, he told himself. Lowering his arm, he moved to the side just fast enough to avoid being cut down by the sword of Halo. "Ah the cavalry arrives," Smirking he summoned his second sword then clashed with both Ryo and Sage.

Cye ran over to Kento and Rachel, cutting the pipes that held them with his trident. "You two okay?"

Releasing his grip on Rachel, Kento punched the pipes back, "I'm alright. Rachel?"

"I'll be okay." She rubbed her arm, "You two go help Ryo."

Sileny ran over with Rowen, "Rachel," she blinked at the guy in light blue armor, "Cye?"

"Sileny. You're here too?"

"Let's go over this later, Sage and Ryo need our help!" Rowen looked over to see White Blaze and Black Blaze, "You two watch Rachel and Sileny."

"What the hell? First it's a sorcerer, then armor! Now there's tigers too?!"

"Sileny I will explain later," Rachel grabbed her friends hand and ran near the back of the area with the two tigers following them.

The armor of Hardrock appeared around its bearer, "Great now someone else got caught in all this."

"Worry about it later," Cye lead the other two towards Sage and Ryo.

"HA!" Ryo swung his swords, one clashing yet again with Keitaro's saber, the other catching on fire then cutting Keitaro's side.

Keitaro winced; the pain that shot through his body was different than the wounds he had received from the other Ronin. Intense burning spread from his side, round his stomach and up his chest. Shifting his weight to his other leg, Keitaro kicked the ronin leader back, watching as he collided with Sage.

The ground beneath him started to change, Keitaro suddenly found himself trapped by the stone in the floor as it wrapped around his legs.

"See how you like it!" Kento glared as he lifted his weapon off the ground.

Sage helped Ryo steady himself before saying, "Let's see you get away now, Keitaro."

Aiming another arrow Rowen was about to release it when the sound of sirens reached his ears. Looking over at Cye he asked, "The cops?"

"Ambulance too, the earthquake here hit all of Shibuya, there was a report saying some people were stuck in here," Cye answered keeping his eyes on Keitaro.

Chuckling the enemy said, "Looks like I got a tad carried away."

"So you did cause it!" Ryo glared, swords catching on fire again.

"Oi! Let's finish this now!" Kento began spinning his weapon again.

"Not just yet," Keitaro closed his eyes and started to fade.

"Coward! Get back here!"

"I'll tell you what, you boys meet me tomorrow night at Tokyo tower at midnight. We will finish this there."

Snarling Rowen let his arrow fly, only to watch it hit the wall.

One again Keitaro had vanished.

"We better get out of here before the cops come in," Sage looked at his friends.

* * *

"In other news today a small earthquake hit the Shibuya area of Tokyo. Police and rescue have reported no casualties but several people have been taken to the nearest hospitals in critical condition. This event has prompted the government to-"

"Shit! That's cold!" Kento cursed loudly over the voice of the newscaster.

Rachel frowned, "Sorry Kento, you'll just have to deal with it until Sileny finds the pain killers." She put the ice back on his already bruised shoulder, "If this was healing it will take longer now."

Growling and gripping on to Rachel's sofa, the young Chinese man blurt out, "I'm going to kick that guys ass! It's one thing to get the five of us but dragging you back into our fight-"

"Maybe he didn't know I was there?"

"Oh he knew you were there," Rowen argued, "I doubt he knew Sileny was there though. He only seemed interested in her after you called out to her in the dark."

Cye looked over at Rachel from his spot on the floor, "Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"I'm just bruised but that'll pass."

Sileny walked downstairs with a bottle of pills in her hand, "I can't find the Aspirin but I did find Tylenol."

Beggars can't be choosers," Kento looked over his shoulder at her, "Thanks." He took the bottle from her.

"Ryo."

The young man in question looked over at the younger girl, "Yeah?"

"Are you guys really going to meet Keitaro tomorrow?"

"We have too. If we don't then he might just keep coming at us."

Sage nodded, "Once we defeat him then we won't need to worry about him anymore."

"Why is this guy even after you all?" Sileny asked. She was still trying to fully grasp everything that had happened, by now she was sure this wasn't a dream.

"Keitaro is just fighting us to fight us," Rowen informed her, "Or so he claims."

Cye nodded, "He has been fighting with us since earlier last month. The only things he says is that he's fighting us to amuse himself, like it's all a game."

"Basically you are fighting a guy with magic abilities along with no motive?"

"Pretty much."

"And the armor you guys wear?"

Before the guys could answer Rachel said, "Sileny they aren't really associated with those guys in armor we saw in Kyoto a few years back." When her friend looked at her she continued, "These guys are like super heroes and they fought against the master of those soldiers."

"Sounds like we are in a manga."

"Fells like it some days," Ryo whispered.

"I wonder if Keitaro really will leave once we beat him tomorrow?" Sage asked allowed, "He said that we'd finish it just not that he'd leave."

"You have a point," Rowen looked at the blonde, "Chances are also good we'll be walking into a trap."

"Sure smells like one."

Cye nodded, "And we've been in enough traps to know things don't always go as planned, for us or the enemy."

"That battle against him was too easy." Ryo let a sigh out, "Bet he's saving his energy for tomorrow."

"Man we should figure out a way to knock him off that tower and beat him into the ground!"

"Kento you're covered in bruises, one being the size of a dinner plate, you sure you can fight like that right now?"

"No problem, Rachel, I've done it before."

"We all have," Sage looked at her then at Kento, "For once I will agree with you. We need to get Keitaro out of here tomorrow by any means we can use."

* * *

A/N: Ha! 22 done! Time for another happy dance! 23 should be up near the end of March, and we only have four chapters to go!


	23. Tokyo Tower

**Magic**

Chapter Twenty Three: Tokyo Tower

* * *

Rachel looked out the small window above the kitchen sink, it was raining cats and dogs outside, had been all day. The gloom outside seemed to mirror yesterday's events, and tonight her warrior friends would hopefully send Keitaro away for good.

"Rachel?"

She turned and saw Sileny standing in the doorway in her Hello Kitty pajamas, "Did I wake you up?"

"I was already up," blue eyes looked over her younger friend, "You're still in your work clothes and you got off an hour ago."

"..My mind's on a lot of things."

"Like what's going to happen at Tokyo Tower?"

Rachel nodded.

Sighing Sileny said, "This is still so weird to me. You make friends with five nice guys, who turn out to have magic armor, they are fighting demons and other evil things, and it's them we have to thank for ending that chaos in Kyoto a few years ago by killing an evil emperor here in Tokyo."

"Pretty much," Shrugging she opened the fridge and took out two cans of Dr. Pepper, "I still don't believe it myself." Looking at Sileny she added, "I know it's real… that fear I got both times watching Ryo fight Keitaro isn't something I could just dream up."

"Yeah.. I haven't been as scared as I was yesterday for a while," Opening the can of Dr. Pepper she then said, "Kento and Rowen acted like they knew just how to protect us, even when Ryo was fighting alone and they could have gone to help him they stayed with us."

"They have protected people before, a lady a few years older than us called Mia, and a young boy named Yuli. I've met Mia, she's pretty! Nice too. Ryo told me that she helped them during their fight with Talpa. She also helped them during two separate fights in Africa then one in the states."

"Sounds like one strong woman."

"She'd have to be since she's been through a lot with them."

"I wonder what will happen to us?"

Rachel blinked, "What do you mean?"

Sileny gazed at her, "We are involved because we are guilty of association. You are friends with them, I am friends with you. If this continues were does that leave us?"

"Well…" Rachel shifted her weight then looked at the clock, "In an hour it will hopefully leave us free to talk with the guys and not have Keitaro pop up."

Lights flickered in the kitchen.

"What the hell?"

* * *

Rain poured from the dark sky, lights from below reflecting off the drops of water, giving the city of Tokyo a glowing effect. Violet eyes looked across the city before returning to the view of Tokyo Tower.

Sage's eyes returned to the clock on the giant TV screen that towered over the shopping center. "Ten minutes."

"Let's head over," Rowen said.

Ryo nodded, "Don't armor up until he gets there. We don't need to be spotted by anyone."

"Ryo I doubt anyone will be looking up in this weather."

"Kento," Cye warned, "We can't afford to chance that, not after what happened in Shibuya yesterday."

"Yeah I know…"

"Let's go." Ryo got a running start and catapulted to the next building over, with all four of his friends on his heels. The rain was freezing against his face as he picked up speed, he briefly wondered if the weather might affect his armor, then sense told him that this really wasn't the time to be worried about something like that. If it did lessen his power then it would probably boost Cye's power.

As they neared Tokyo Tower, lightning illuminated the clouds above and at the same time a loud crack of thunder echoed around the city, followed suit by a black out.

"Think that's Keitaro's way of saying greeting us?" Cye voiced his suspicions.

"He seems to favor it," Sage agreed.

Rowen looked at the sky as lightning flashed above them again, "We need to be careful of the lightning too."

"Don't think Sage is up to controlling it?"

"I haven't had the chance to try Kento, and I really don't want to focus on too many things during this fight."

"Alright man no need to snap."

"HA!" Ryo jumped down off the skyscraper and back up to the small building of FootTown just below the tower.

Rowen stopped at his leaders side, looking up at the tower, "Two major risk factors here, lightning, and the chances of falling off."

"It's five against one," Kento reminded Rowen, "Our hardest fights have been one on one with this creep. When we all work as a team he usually backs off."

"He sure didn't back off when he tried to bury us alive in that old building," Cye looked at Kento. "And he did win that fight against us at the amusement park."

Sage nodded, "The only thing we haven't really seen him use is fire."

"Let's hope he doesn't chose to use that tonight," Ryo looked at his friends, "We ready for this?"

They all nodded.

After donning their armor, Kento went first grabbing the metal bars and swinging his way up one of the legs to the tower. Rowen was next, preferring to fly alongside his friends rather than climbing the tower. Cye and Ryo took off at the same time, scaling the sides of the structured leg almost in unison. Sage brought up the rear, his eyes constantly looking around in the rainy darkness for any sign of an attack.

Reaching the observatory, Rowen landed on the structure and watched as his friends joined him. "I haven't seen him yet."

"Neither have I," Sage admitted.

Cye looked up, "Maybe he's near the top waiting for us?"

A thought struck Sage, "Let me try something…" He took out his sword.

Ryo watched him, "Can you send light up that far?"

"We're about to find out," He held the sword up in the air and the green light started swirling around the blade before shooting into the air like a firework. The light faded about half way up the structure, "Damn."

"It was worth a sho-"

Above them lightning spread over the clouds with a blinding force as a roar of thunder sounded so loudly around them that their helmets vibrated.

The blonde warrior was the only one who didn't shield his eyes from the light. As he gazed up the tower, something caught his eye… and he was not sure he saw that right.

After the light faded Kento saw the look on Sage's face and got worried, "You saw him?"

"I think I saw four figures up there."

Cye said, "We did tell Kayura and the other three we'd be coming here. Could it be them?"

"I don't think…that was them." Sage said slowly.

That awful empty pit feeling crept its way right into Cye's stomach, "Ryo."

"We better get up there fast!"

Rowen looked at the Ronin of Wildfire, "Want me to fly up there?"

Ryo thought for a moment, "Yeah, take Cye with you."

The two Ronin looked at each other then nodded.

"If he's not alone we'll let you know."

Ryo nodded.

"We'll be right behind you," Sage assured his two friends.

Nodding Rowen stepped behind the Torrent Warrior, wrapped his arms around Cye's chest before taking off into the stormy air.

Taking a few deep breaths Cye kept his focus on the shared antenna, where Rowen was heading. Lightning and thunder filled the clouds above, as they got closer to their destination, however, something half way up the very top of the antenna caught his eye. It looked like something was tied onto it.

"Rowen there's something near the top."

"I saw it," He answered before landing at the destination and he was there waiting for them.

Cye glared at Keitaro, how could he just lean against the metal bars like he was waiting for the next bullet train out of Tokyo? As he looked at the enemy, he noticed something else… Keitaro was not soaked from the rain. He wasn't even wet.

"You're one minute early," Keitaro titled his head to look better at them.

Midnight blue eyes glared, "You in a hurry to lose?"

Smirking he answered, "No just in a hurry to fight.

The awful sinking feeling crept into Cye's stomach again, he let his eyes wonder back to the tower's top. A voice in the back of his head was screaming at him except he couldn't tell what it was saying.

"Keitaro!" Kento glared as he flipped up and landed beside his best friend.

Ryo and Sage landed on either side of Rowen, "If you're right here then what's up there?" Sage asked with a motion of his head.

Leaning off the metal bar Keitaro pointed up, "Have a closer look then. I'll let you before we start."

Lightning flashed again, illuminating the three unconscious figures around the lightning rod of the tower. All five pairs of eyes widened upon recognizing their three friends.

"Yuli!"

"Sileny!"

"Rachel!"

Ryo's eyes narrowed at the fourth figure now standing on the very top of the rod, "Keitaro let them go!"

"You really want them to fall from this height?" The man tilted his head, "I thought you were smart enough to know this fall would more than kill them. I also doubt Strata is strong enough to catch then carry all three to safety."

The ronin in question tightened his grip on his bow.

"What did you catch them for anyways?!" Kento shouted, "This fight is between you and us. They have no-"

"It makes things far more interesting," Keitaro answered rather coolly.

Sage's blood was boiling, "Do you think that all this is a joke? You use lives of people who can't defend themselves against us just so we fight better."

Something changed in Keitaro's eyes, "I have _never_ thought of life as a joke."

"Could have fooled us!" Cye yelled over a boom of thunder.

Two serrated swords appeared in Keitaro's hands, he looked at all five of the young men below him before saying, "This is the last time we will be able to fight, your three friends will be fine so long as you can save them before sunrise. After tonight I must leave before Haytie comes."

_Haytie_?

_Watch it!_

Keitaro leapt down, swords at the ready he met Ryo's swords and Kento's spear in his throat. Torrents trident hit him in the lower back, hard; Keitaro swung his leg around and back kicking the water warrior in the stomach. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Halo and Strata heading up to the three innocents.

_Oh no you don't, not yet_. Kicking off both Torrent and Hardrock, he clashed with Wildfire again before throwing the other sword at the tower just below the lightning rod. Rain circled around it before shooting down at Sage and Rowen.

"GAH!" Sage lost his grip due to the force of the water, landing on Rowen who then lost his grip and fell back onto the landing.

"Sage! Rowen!"

"HA!" Kento brought his weapon down on Keitaro's arm.

Wincing Keitaro grabbed the spear, swung both it and Kento above his head, before throwing him at Cye, causing them both to slide back then off the side of the landing.

"Cye!"

"Kento!"

"Rowen!"

"On it!" The blue haired warrior ran across the way.

Keitaro formed another spear in his hand and threw it towards the rescuer. Rowen dodged it just as a large wave of fire came from the side, engulfing the spear then heading right before Keitaro. He flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the attack, and landing on the side of the lightning rod. Looking down he saw the two sword of Wildfire blazing with orange flames.

_Well that's new_. Glancing upwards Keitaro pushed himself up the rest of the way. Pulling his sword out of the metal and leaping off the tower, he swung his swords in his hands while flying at Wildfire.

As they were about to clash swords a gust of cold wind blew him back against the rod, hard enough that his vision blurred. Something wrapped around his hand, once his vision cleared, he saw it was elongated nails from the rod.

"Let's see him move now," Kento comment to Sage.

Glaring at them, Keitaro then heard a noise and looked up.

Cye wrapped his arm around Sileny, using the other to support himself against the rod. "Rowen, can you really take them both?"

"Have to at least try," He responded putting and arm around Yuli, he then reached for Rachel.

His eyes narrowed and Keitaro broke his hand free from the metal, pushing off it he veered around and kicked it hard as lightning flashed above.

Rachel fell from the top of the lightning rob just as Rowen was about to grab her, "Rachel!"

Sage looked up and moved fast, catapulting himself off Kento's shoulders and into the air. Clashing his sword with Keitaro's only briefly before catching the girl and grabbing hold of a metal beam.

"Get them out of here!" Ryo yelled before sending another wave of fire in Keitaro's direction before Kento slammed the man in the ribs with his weapon.

* * *

Freezing. She was freezing and wet. Something was around her waist…

Sileny opened her eyes and about had a heart attack, "Oh my gods!" She shouted and grabbed a hold of the closest thing.

"Sileny it's okay."

Blinking she looked to her side, "Cye?"

He offered a wary smile, "We're almost to the bottom."

"Bottom of what?!"

"Tokyo Tower."

Sileny looked to her other side, "Sage." Upon seeing Rachel her eyes got wider, "Is she alright?"

"She's unconscious," Sage answered.

"Sileny did Keitaro attack you two?" Cye asked.

She shook her head, "No. We were talking in the kitchen when the power went out. Next thing I know I'm sliding down to Tokyo from god only knows how high with you hanging onto me."

FootTown came closer to view, "Hang on." Cye warned before letting go of the bar, falling, then landing on his feet in unison with Sage.

"Sage, Cye!"

Sileny saw a young boy running their way from over by Rowen.

"Yuli are you okay?" Cye asked.

"I'm fine."

"So you're Yuli," Sileny looked down at the brown haired boy.

Blinking he asked, "Who are you?"

"Yuli this is Sileny, and," he set Rachel down against the leg of the structure, "This is Rachel." Standing up he looked at him then asked, "Will you watch these two while we help Ryo and Kento?"

Yuli nodded once, "But what's going on?"

"I'll tell him what I can," Sileny offered.

"You do that," Rowen said, "We have to get back-Oh shit!" He stepped back and took off like a shot into the air.

"He can _fly_?!"

* * *

"GAH!"

"Ryo!"

"Gatchya!" Rowen caught Ryo just as he fell from the landing.

Ryo turned his head, "They alright?"

"They're fine."

"Little help here," Kento spun his spear, bringing up from the metal a few shards before sending them Keitaro's way.

"Toss me," Ryo stated as he put the two hilts of his katana's together.

Rowen nodded before throwing Ryo back onto the landing of the antenna. Pulling out one of his arrows he took aim at the spot between Keitaro and Kento.

He landed and felt the fire growing on the blades of his swords, steam rising in the air from the rain falling. _Kento jump_! He commanded.

The young Chinese man jumped up just as a swarm flew under his feet and right for Keitaro.

Keitaro spun his swords around, only to lose one when an arrow of Strata hit it. Scowling he didn't have the time to move before the fire hit him full force. This fire hurt worse than the twisting fire a few weeks ago, a lot worse.

Jagged lightning shot up from the side of the tower hitting the clouds above then rippling out. The rain stopped fall so hard around them, it began turning around them as Cye hopped onto the landing, water gathering around his trident.

Rowen glanced down to see Sage holding onto two bars, his eyes focused above him. _Sage?_

_Move or you'll be in Cye's way_.

Blinking Rowen moved just in time.

The surge of water that shot at Keitaro knocked him back to the very edge of the tower's antenna; he drove his sword into the metal and hung on as the water continued pounding at him.

* * *

Yuli blinked twice, "So they are up there fighting that guy now?!"

Sileny nodded, her wet hair sticking to her cheeks and neck, "Yeah but why he captured us and left us unconscious is beyond me." Looking up to the sky she added, "You'd think we'd be more useful awake and screaming."

"Wait," Rachel said getting their attention, "Those five are up there alone?"

"I don't know, maybe. It matters?" Sileny shrugged.

"It might," She answered.

"We need to get out of the rain."

Rachel looked at Yuli, "We need to get them help."

"How are we supposed to do that?" The orange haired girl held her hand out towards the city, "The power's out, we can't use a phone."

"No, but I have something we can use. We just need to get to a window or something."

"Watch it!" Grabbing the two girl's hands Yuli dragged them out of the way as a waterfall poured down from the sky.

Falling on her side, dragging the other two down with her, Sileny turned to the water, "The hell is that?"

"An attack from Cye?" Yuli asked.

Rachel blinked, "Him or Keitaro."

The sound of a roar caught Yuli's attention and he spun his head around as White Blaze leapt onto the roof of the observation center. "White Blaze!" Sitting up the boy smiled as the tiger ran over to them; the smile fading when Black Blaze's image came into view from behind White Blaze. "What's Black Blaze doing here?"

"I did mention two tigers," Sileny stood up, "So if they are down here then the guys really are fighting on their own."

Four figures in armor flew up past them, grabbing the metal bars and catapulting up higher.

Sileny said something in a language Yuli didn't recognize, "Those are the Warlords," He said guessing what she said.

"The who?"

"Kayura, Dais, Cale, and Sekhmet, the four other warriors I told you a little about."

"So they're on our side?"

He hesitated before nodding, "Yeah and they'll help the guys send Keitaro packing!"

* * *

Searing hot metal shrapnel found its way into his back, the burning that went up his spine and through his ribs was near unbearable. At least he hand the Halo warrior's sword to distract him, this warrior was starting to act like he was in it for the kill. _Good_.

Aiming another arrow, Rowen was sure to hit Keitaro this time and keep him there. A glint below caught his eye, looking down he almost smiled. _Ryo, we got back up_.

Ryo looked over as Kayura flipped up, landing beside him. He smiled, "Glad you could join us."

Smiling slyly she responded, "I'm just sorry we're late."

Sekhmet landed on the side of the lightning rod, two of his swords in one hand, the other holding the rod.

Dais and Cale landed on either side of Cye, "Does he show any sign of weakening?" Dais asked.

"Hard to tell."

Kicking the Ronins of Halo and Hardrock back, Keitaro looked at the four new opponents. _I didn't expect them to get here so fast_.

Removing the kama from his back, the blades struck the area surrounding Keitaro, the web-like substance covered him in moments.

Sekhmet threw the two swords down, both catching the kimono of his opponent. Acid began eating away at the material around it as the man struggled to move.

Black lightning crackled around Dais's sword, he released it as Kayura lodged the end of the kusarigama into the metal.

Keitaro visibly winced.

Rowen took four arrows out and lined them up on his bow. Glancing down at his four friends he waited until they saw him before releasing the arrows, wind spun around them and they whistled as they flew through the air. Each arrow hit one of Keitaro's arms and legs smack in the center.

Water twirled around the trident then shot at the lightning rod, bouncing off then hitting the pinned man like a ton of bricks.

Sage's sword glowed bright before he swung it in the air, a large blade of light dashing along the air and hitting Keitaro in the chest. The blonde was surprise when it uprooted the man from the spot, sending him near the edge of the antenna.

Kento and Ryo looked at each other then nodded. Lifting the spear of Hardrock up in the air, Kento slammed it on the landing. Both Warlord and Ronin shot into the air as metal waves went crashing against Keitaro; knocking him off the antenna.

Grabbing Ryo's arm, Rowen lifted him up and flew over the spot where Keitaro fell. Both could see him still falling while glaring up at them. Focusing, Ryo waves the jointed swords, red flames burst from the blades. Fire shot down at the enemy like bullets.

Closing his eyes Keitaro allowed the fire to strike him.

* * *

AN: Ta DA! I give you 23 and 24, don't say I'm not nice. The last two will be up at some point next month. Also I'm trying to expand my vocab as I describe things, please give feedback on that.


	24. Aokigahara

**Magic**

Chapter Twenty-Four: Aokigahara

* * *

It was done. Finally it was over. Floating across the forest floor he reached the tree that he had missed so much. Looking down he could see the foliage had covered almost all of the skull at the roots again.

"I wonder if Yun would find it curious that I have sat here for years watching my own bones become one with the ground?"

_She would find it degusting_.

"Hello Kokuen-Oh," He turned to gaze at the black tiger approaching him. "I was suppressed when you and Byakuen didn't show up until the fight was almost over."

Black Blaze sat down, So _now that things are finished will you stay here_?

Keitaro nodded, "I have nowhere else to go."

_Why will you not leave? You could move on and see them again_.

"They are not there. Haytie has their souls in his collection; I will not leave this place until I receive believable news that he is dead."

The tiger nodded, _Do you think they have a chance_?

"They have a better one that we did."

_Why did you get the two girls involved_? White Blaze asked as he came to stand beside Black Blaze, _They didn't need to be involved and yet you brought them into this_.

"The first time was a mistake," Keitaro leaned back on the tree, "I did not expect the girl, Rachel, to show up. When she did I seized the opportunity."

_And the next time?_

_That was my idea_.

White Blaze growled fiercely at the tiger.

"I was running out of ideas, when Kokuen-Oh suggested the girl I decided to bring her in, then her friend, into the ronin lives for good."

_Why_?

Black Blaze too wondered why.

"Sometimes the best motivation can stare you right in the face. Rachel and Sileny know the boys are Ronin Warriors, they are caught up in their magic, will take part in some battles, and be support blocks. Yuli is still too young to be there as a reminder and the other girl, Mia, is married, they won't be there now."

_They are liabilities_.

"Liabilities can be useful. The girls will be there as a different and constant reminder of why they fight."

Black Blaze looked up, _How long_?

"Not long." Keitaro closed his eyes, "Leave me please. I have done what I can and I'd like to return to a semi peaceful afterlife."


	25. Choice

**Magic**  
Chapter Twenty Five: Choice

* * *

"Haytie?" Kayura blinked twice. "No I can't say I've heard that name before."

"I may have," Sekhmet looked up from his spot on the floor, "It rings a bell, but I can't remember where I've heard it before."

"It doesn't sound Japanese," Rowen looked at Kento.

"Well it isn't Chinese. And if ya ask me it doesn't sound Asian at all," He sat on the couch, "For all we know Keitaro could have said that to throw us off."

Rowen nodded, "That's true."

Kayura looked at Ryo who stood by the kitchen, "You're sure you hit him?"

He nodded, "Yeah I'm sure."

"I doubt he could have survived that," Sage voiced up, "We saw the fire strike him then it kept going to the ground. Yuli, Rachel, and Sileny even said they saw something burning for a few minutes before we got back down to them."

"We'll know for sure when Dais and Cale return," Ryo sighed.

"You okay man?"

"Tired."

Cye walked out of the kitchen with a tray of empty teacups, "We're all tired Ryo, good thing no one works today. We can all get some well deserved rest."

Kento nodded then looked to the closed door of his bedroom, "So how soon do you think we can get Yuli home before his parents realize he's gone?"

"Mom and dad aren't home." Yuli's voice chimed out from Kento's room.

"What?"

Sage raised his visible eyebrow, "Yuli you were home by yourself all night?"

The door opened and Yuli emerged wearing one of Kento's shirts, "The last two days. This weekend has been mom and dad's anniversary, they usually go back to the same hot spring resort that they spent their honeymoon. Dad and I made a deal after the school year started, if I got nothing but straight A's I could be alone over the weekend of their honeymoon."

"Why'd you make that kind of deal?" Cye asked.

"To show them that I can take care of myself. I know I'm still a kid but I'm a lot more capable of taking care of myself than most of my classmates."

"Considering everything you've been through by just being around us, I'd say you do take good care of yourself," Kento grinned.

Ryo chuckled, "He can't really go around telling all of Japan about that, Kento."

"I'm not sure I would if I could. No one would believe me."

Cye smiled and walked back into the kitchen, "Well you can sleep here and we'll take you home later."

"Thanks Cye."

The door to Cye's room opened and the two girls walked out wearing some of his older pajamas. Rachel looked at Cye, smiled and said, "Thanks for loaning these to us."

He returned the smile, "You two can't really walk around soaking wet or you'll catch cold."

"I'm sorry that we don't have a hair dryer for you two to use," Kento shrugged a shoulder.

"Well you two have short hair, it dries quickly." Sileny walked over and sat at the table, next to Kayura, "We'll give back the pajamas after our clothes are dry."

"Don't worry about it. More importantly are you two okay?"

"I'm fine," Rachel answered, "Confused but fine."

"Ditto."

Yuli shrugged.

Kayura looked at them, "Why would Keitaro come after you three? He can't hurt Yuli, and you two girls don't really-and excuse me when I say this-you don't really see much significance in the two of you."

"Easy targets."

"Sekhmet!" She glared at him.

"He's right," Sileny looked from Kayura, to Sekhmet, then Rachel, "We are easy targets. You are their friend, I'm your friend, so-"

"Guilty by association," Sage finished.

Rachel shifted her weight, "True as that sounds, it still doesn't explain why he put all three at the top of the tower."

"He wanted the fight to stop, he didn't need to use you three to motivate us for that."

"A distraction of some kind perhaps?" Rowen looked at Ryo, "It's never easy for us to fight, let alone when we have others around us who can't fight."

"That's true…" The Ronin of Wildfire admitted.

Rachel looked down, "We are a liability."

"You are our _friends_," Kento corrected.

"That too," Rachel looked at him, "What if Keitaro isn't gone? And what about this Haytie he mentioned to you guys? You've fought other enemies and it sounds like more will come. I am your friend, Sileny is your friend, but when it comes to a fight we both are a liability. We don't know how to fight, we sure as hell don't have armor, and we can't really use magic."

Yuli saw the looks on his friends faces. Rachel had just said the very thing they were all thinking, yet too nice to admit. He decided to take it upon himself to ask the next question he saw in the eyes of his friends, "Rachel."

She looked at him.

"Do you want to stay friends with Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento and Rowen?" He could feel all eyes on him, "I've been friends with them since I met them three years ago, so has Mia. I only recently started to learn how to fight by taking kendo lessons, and Kento taught Mia how to defend herself. Hasn't always been fun being around them, more than once I thought for sure I was going to die. It's scary, dangerous, exciting, fun, tiring, and sometimes downright terrifying.

"Knowing all this, do you still want to be their friend?"

Ryo gazed at Yuli, not once had the kid ever said anything like this to him. Or to the others for all he knew. His eyes looked from Yuli and fixed on Rachel's face, she was biting her bottom lip. Blue eyes locked his own, for a brief moment.

Looking back at Yuli, Rachel nodded once.

Yuli looked at the orange haired girl, "How about you Sileny?"

She paused before saying, "I don't really know you guys, I only know the things Rachel has told me and the things I have seen. But I will give things a try _only_ if you five are alright with this. In the end it's ultimately your choices to let us be friends knowing we could easily become a liability."

Now Yuli turned to his five friends.

"I'm for it," Kento said first, "Mia and Yuli survived, they gave us just as much motivation to fight as anything else. Sure you two may not know how to fight but we can teach you how to defend yourselves at the very least." Smiling he added, "I like having you as a friend Rachel. We don't know everything about each other, that can change, and I'll give Sileny a try because she's your best friend."

Rachel offered Kento a small smile.

The blonde swordsman looked at his friend, "Mia and Yuli may have survived all the encounters we've had, however they have been injured more than once. When we've been pulled out of Japan, others have also been hurt or killed because of our armors."

"Where else have you been?" Sileny asked.

"Africa and New York, neither of which was a fun time," Sage looked at the two girls, "I'm a bit torn here on my decision. On one hand I can see the danger you'd be in, you two said it yourselves that you can't fight, we always run the risk of getting killed-we've almost lost Ryo a few times. Yes we can teach you, but depending on the enemy it may not help you to know how to fight. On the other hand I feel it could be a risk we can chance, no matter what we do people will still get involved with us."

"I'm with Sage on this one," Cye looked at them, "I do hold you as a friend Rachel, I just don't know if this would be a good thing for you and Sileny to be around us or not."

Ryo took a deep breath, "Like Kento said, we can teach you to fight, and like Sage said people are going to get involved with us no matter what we do. Also since you two heard what Yuli had to say and you're still willing to try this, I think we should be too."

Yuli looked over at Rowen, "What do you think?"

"I don't have an answer," Rowen told the younger boy.

"How about this then," Sileny spoke up, "Rachel and I will go home, and you three can give us your answers over the next few days. Keep in mind that if things ever get too bad we could always go back to Kyoto."

"That sounds like a good idea," Sage replied.

* * *

"Hey Rowen, did the power outage get as far as your apartment last night?"

"Toyo what are you asking him that for? I bet you 500 yen that he was asleep."

"I was awake," Rowen looked at his two co-workers, "And yes it did get as far as my apartment."

Toyo grabbed his brown hair, "Even Tokyo Tower lost power! Can you imagine that? The friggin' tower!"

"Ringo, how much coffee did you let him have this morning?"

Rowen looked over to see his boss staring at Toyo, "Morning sir."

"Morning Rowen," The boss then looked back at Ringo, "Well?"

"Too much," Ringo grinned sheepishly.

"Boss did the power go out at your house?" Toyo looked at his boss intently.

"No. Now calm down Toyo, you are scaring the customers," He looked at Rowen, "There is a foreigner in the back of the shop. Your English is the best here I'd like you to see if she needs any help."

"Yes sir," Rowen walked away from the group, though he did catch Ringo say something about the power outage and the earthquake. _At least Ryo's fire didn't make the news, that would have been bad_.

Turning the corner and heading into the New Age section, so few Japanese came to this section of the store but it did good business for tourists. And yes, Rowen did speak better English than any of the other employees, but he sure wished they would learn it.

The customer stood up a row away from him, though her back was to him he was pretty sure he knew who this was, "Sileny?"

She turned around, two books in her hands, "Rowen." Spotting the nametag, she tilted her head, "Oh this is the book store you work at."

"Rachel told you that," He nodded, "What are you looking for?"

"Nothing anymore, I already found what I needed."

Looking at the title of the first book, he raised an eyebrow, "_Celtic Myth and Magic_?"

"It's for school, not the five of you," Sileny answered rather coolly, "I'm working on a thesis for my world history class."

"On magic?"

"No it's on how mythology shapes religions and society," She tapped the spine of the other book, "This one is on Egyptian gods, see many of the Pharos thought themselves godlike and even went so far as to intermarry the ways their gods did to become more divine."

"Sounds like you've been working on this for a while."

"Not really, my parents are archeologists so I hold an advantage over my classmates."

He blinked, "Your parents are archeologists? Are they helping with a site in Japan?"

"No they are currently in Scotland… I think." Sileny shrugged, "I live here with my aunt and her husband, traveling around to excavate sites with a small child wasn't the safest thing in the world so my parents shipped me here when I was five."

"Sileny."

"Yes?"

"Can you relay a message to Rachel for me?"

Blue eyes fixed on him, "Would this by chance be the answer you didn't have last night?"

Rowen nodded, "I'm not sure it's a good idea. Still I think Ryo's right, since you two are willing to give things a try we should be too."

She smiled, "I'll let her know after she gets home from work."

* * *

Rachel sighed heavily as she closed the door, "Well that was a waste of time." As she slipped her shoes off both Pumpkin and Espresso came running down the stairs. "Hey you two, can you believe it? I go to work and not only is the power still out on the whole block but our water heater broke to boot!" She groaned, "I hope Sileny had a better morning than I did."

"As a matter of fact, I did." Sileny's voice rang from upstairs.

Blinking the young girl walked up the stairs and looked into her roommates bedroom, "I didn't know you were already home."

Sileny spun her chair away from her desk, "I've only been home for twenty minutes," motioning to the bed she added, "You can sit if you need to."

"Thanks. So did you find the books you needed?"

"Yes and I also ran into Rowen."

"You did?" Rachel looked at her, "Oh! You went to the store he works at?"

Nodding Sileny said, "He gave me his answer that he didn't have last night."

"What did he say?"

"He agrees with Ryo," Putting a pencil back on the desk she added, "There are messages on the machine from Sage, and Cye, they also agree to try this out."

"That's surprising…"

The Sweetish girl tilted her head, "Why?"

"Well I figured Cye would be okay with it in the end but I thought for sure Sage would say no. He didn't act like he really liked the idea last night and he's always been a little distant towards me."

"That may be changing, Sage added a number and a name in his message for his teacher friend at the dojo."

Rachel blinked, "He did?"

"Yeah and in the message Cye left I heard Kento in the background saying he'd talk to his mom about her teaching us."

"I wonder what she teaches?"

"You don't know…?"

"I'm a friend but I don't know everything about them, Sileny. I didn't really become too close to them until I saw Ryo's armor for the first time. We were more of acquaintances really. The things I told you about them are things I've heard from Sage's sister Satsuki and just around the school in general."

"Then lets invite them over for dinner Tuesday night."

"I guess that's okay, I don't work but don't you have a pre-test of some sort the next day?"

"On the history of Sweden and since I have family there it's not like I won't know anything."

Rachel giggled, "Too bad they don't have classes on magic. I bet that could help us."

"They sell magic books at the bookstores. If we really wanted to I'm sure we could buy a few here and there."

The auburn haired girl shrugged, "I think we should take it one step at a time."

"Probably a good idea."


	26. Epilogue

**Magic**  
Epilogue

* * *

The sounds of footsteps echoed off the porcelain walls, floor, and ceiling of the long hallway. Light was only visible on the jewels embedded on either side of the walls, between the display windows holding objects of victories past.

A figure cloaked in cloth of gold stopped at one of these windows, reached put its gloved hand touching a shining turquoise stone. Glass on the display window lifted up, revealing all the idols sitting on the velvet cloth. The figure extended the other hand out, setting an onyx statue of a three-headed elephant next to a ruby statue of Kali.

"Another fine addition to your ever growing collection, my lord."

The figure smiled, "Indeed." Taking his gloved hand off the turquoise, he turned to see a young woman dressed in blue velvet four feet away from him, "Have preparations begun for our return to Japan, Marijke?"

She gave a deep bow; her black curls fell over her shoulders, "Yes my lord. All preparations have begun and we shall be ready to depart within the hour."

"This pleases me greatly," He walked past her slowly, then stopped. A smirk spread across his face, "When I recall the last time I set foot upon Japans soil, I cannot help but smile. It has always been a country to hold strong powers, however, those chosen to employ it are always so feeble."

"Perhaps they are poorly informed, my lord?"

"Correct," His gaze turned to a display that held five jars and twelve tiny statues of animals. "We must create a new display area for these new objects of power. I want them in one piece so I may gaze upon their splendor once they are mine."

"As you wish, my lord, I shall send for the architect at once." She stood up straight and walked forward.

"Marijke."

She stopped.

"This time try not to sink your lovely fangs into him, I would much rather you stave off your thirst until we arrive in Japan. And when you have finished summoning my architect, send for the rest of my envoy, for we have much to discuss."

"As you command, Lord Haytie."

* * *

**A/N**:: Little preview for you there on what's to come in the sequel. Holy cheese and crackers! It's.. it's done! Excuse me while I try not to faint. Again I'm trying to expand my vocab a bit so feedback there would be nice, please. As for the sequel to this story, it won't be out until next year. Now that Magic is over, please let me know what you think of the story, do you like the new characters? Was my character adaption of the RW characters decent and consistent? Did you not like something? Will you read the sequel when it comes out next year?


End file.
